JP3152989B2 - Media separation method of media transfer type plotter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medium transfer type for forming a desired image on a drawing medium by driving the drawing medium in the X direction and moving the drawing means transfer means holding the drawing means in the Y-axis direction. It concerns the plotter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a configuration example of a cutting plotter which is one of typical plotters of this type. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a cutting pen (medium cutting means) which is an image forming means for forming a cut image, 2 denotes a carriage (image forming means transferring means), and 3 denotes a main body arm 35.
And a medium drive mechanism for holding and driving the drawing medium. The drawing medium 4 is placed on the base 6, and both ends of the drawing medium 4 are nipped by the driving roller 31 and the pinch roller 32. The pinch roller 32 is driven by a compression spring 34 to rotate the shaft 3.
The printing medium 4 is configured to receive a force in the direction of rotation about the center 3 and press the drawing medium 4 against the driving roller 31 with this force. The drive roller 31 is driven by forward / reverse rotation of a drive motor (not shown), whereby the pinch roller 32 is driven, and at the same time, the drawing medium 4 moves in the single axis direction (X axis direction). The carriage 2 is configured to be movable (in the Y-axis direction) along the Y rail 23 by a carriage moving mechanism (not shown). The carriage 2 holds the cutting pen 1, and the held cutting pen 1 is grounded by lowering the actuator 22 to the drawing medium 4. In this state, the carriage 2 is moved by the carriage moving mechanism.
Is moved so that the drawing medium 4 is cut. The control circuit 5 simultaneously operates the drive motor, the carriage moving mechanism, and the actuator 22 and controls them to form a cut image of a desired shape on the drawing medium 4.

When cutting a sheet material such as a cutting film using the cutting plotter, the control circuit 5 controls the cutting edge of the cutting pen 1 to cut the adhesive film of the cutting film and not to completely penetrate the sheet material. The cutting pen 1 is lowered to an appropriate height, and in this state, the carriage 2 and the drive roller 31 are driven to cut the sheet material.

[0004] When a plurality of patterns for manufacturing clothes or interior decorations are to be continuously produced using this conventional medium transfer type cutting plotter, unlike the case of the above-mentioned adhesive film, the drawing medium 4 is different. It has been realized that a plurality of patterns are continuously formed using so-called roll paper in which paper is used as a roll and the paper is formed in a roll shape with a shaft as a core.

[0005] In the case of continuously making a pattern using this roll paper, if the cutting operation is continued without separating the already created pattern and the surrounding paper, the prepared pattern side (roll paper) If the weight of the paper on the side opposite to the side on which the paper is stocked gradually increases and the cutting operation is further continued, a load is imposed on the motor for driving the drive roller 31, and accurate media feeding cannot be performed. There is a case where a trouble such that a proper cutting cannot be performed occurs.

In view of this point, in the conventional apparatus, each time the cutting in the predetermined range is completed, the paper in this range is cut off to reduce the load on the drive motor. As a method for this cutting, the cutting operation of the apparatus is temporarily interrupted, and then the operator cuts off with a cutter knife or the like, or when the cutting of a predetermined range is completed, this part is sequentially fed, and the boundary part of this cutting part is Positioning the carriage 2 immediately below the moving part of the cutting pen 1,
Thereafter, the cutting pen 1 is grounded, and the cutting pen 1 is completely cut from one end to the other end of the paper.

[0007]

However, in the conventional apparatus, when cutting the paper cut by the apparatus,
As shown in FIG. 3, there is a problem that the cutting pen 1 starts cutting from one end, and just before reaching the other end, the paper itself is broken by its own weight. Further, when cutting the paper that has been cut by the conventional device, the cutting pen 1 is once grounded outside the end of the paper 4, and then the cutting pen 1 is moved to the end of the paper 4 by moving the carriage 2. The paper 4 is completely cut off by moving the carriage 2 to the end of the other paper while making contact with it. However, for example, when the blade of the cutting pen 1 is dull due to wear or the like, FIG. As described above, the cutting pen 1 cannot cut the end of the paper 4 on the side where the paper 4 starts to be cut, so that the paper 4 is entangled with the movement of the carriage 2, thereby causing a problem that the created paper pattern is damaged. was there.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a cutting plotter according to the present invention, in an operation of separating paper, first, a cutting pen is grounded at a point closer to one end than the center of the paper. (This ground point is referred to as a first ground point), and the cutting pen is moved toward the end near the ground point to create a first cutting area. A point near the end is grounded (this ground point is referred to as a second ground point), and the cutting pen is moved toward the end close to the ground point so as to be symmetric with the first cutting area. A second cutting area is created, and then the cutting pen is grounded at a point slightly closer to the center from the first ground point, and cut to a point slightly closer to the center from the second ground point. Third cutting region and the first by moving the Ingupen, to create a second non-cutting region. After this cutting operation, a predetermined amount of paper is fed in the direction of the cut paper, the uncut portion is held by the drive roller and the pinch roller, and the paper is driven at a high acceleration in a direction against the own weight of the cut paper. Drive the rollers. This is characterized in that the cut paper is configured to be cut off.

[0009]

In the cutting plotter configured as described above, when the cutting of the predetermined range is completed, three cutting areas and two minute non-cutting areas are formed on the boundary between the cut area and the uncut area. Is formed, the uncut portion is held by a roller, and the cut portion is driven at a high acceleration in a direction against the weight of the cut portion, thereby separating the cut portion of the paper.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A cutting plotter according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view for explaining the paper separating operation of the cutting plotter of the present invention, and the conventional cutting plotter shown in FIG. 2 is used as an apparatus.

In the cutting plotter according to the present invention, in the case of continuously making a pattern or the like using the roll paper 41 as a medium to be cut, first, a driving roller is adjusted in accordance with the size of the pattern to be produced from the roll paper holding section 42. A predetermined amount of paper is pulled out by driving 31. Thereafter, a cut image of a desired shape is created within the range of the drawn paper. As a method of making the same, the carriage 2 holding the cutting pen 1 is moved by a carriage drive mechanism (not shown) while the cutting pen 1 is landed or separated from the medium 4 by the actuator 22 in the Y direction, as in the conventional apparatus.
The paper (medium to be cut) 4 is moved in the X-axis direction by moving the drive roller 31 at the same time in the axial direction.
These operations are simultaneously controlled by the control circuit 5 so that the cutting pen 1 moves while drawing a desired trajectory in a predetermined range (XY plane) of the paper 4 to perform a cutting operation, thereby cutting a desired shape. Create an image.

In this apparatus, when the power is turned on or when paper is set, the width of the paper 4 is detected by a sensor provided on the carriage 2 (not shown), and this data is stored in a memory. In this apparatus, the amount of cut paper is detected each time one unit of cutting is completed, and this amount is a predetermined amount, that is, the weight of the cut paper can be sufficiently separated in a separating operation described later. It detects whether it becomes heavy. If the detected amount of cut paper is less than the predetermined amount, the apparatus feeds the required amount of roll paper 41 and creates the next pattern.

When the subsequent cutting of one unit is completed, the amount of cut paper is similarly detected. While repeating this operation loop, the amount of cut paper exceeds a predetermined amount. this,
When detecting that the amount of paper exceeds a predetermined amount, the control circuit 5 controls the apparatus to shift to a paper separating operation of the cut portion. In this case, first, the boundary line (cutting position) between the cut portion and the uncut portion shown in FIG. 1 is calculated, and the drive roller 31 is rotated by turning the drive roller 31 so that this boundary line is immediately below the position where the cutting pen 1 moves. Position. Next, the control circuit 5 calculates the coordinates of points A and B at which the paper 4 is equally divided into three in the Y direction (width direction) from the data of the paper width stored in the memory. Subsequently, the cutting pen 1 is positioned directly above the calculated point A, the blade of the cutting pen 1 is grounded at the point A, and the cutting pen 1 is moved toward the end portion near the point A (the direction of the arrow in the figure). Is moved to cut the paper 4 to create a first cut area. After the first cutting area is created, the carriage 2 raises the cutting pen 1 and positions the cutting pen 1 immediately above the point B, and then grounds the blade. The cutting pen 1 is moved in the direction (the direction of the arrow in the drawing) to cut the paper 4 to create a second cutting area symmetrical to the first cutting area.

After the first and second cutting areas are created, the carriage 2 raises the cutting pen 1, and this time, the cutting pen 1 is located immediately above the point A ′ which is further away from the point A in the direction of the center of the minute amount of paper. Position. At this point A ', the blade of the cutting pen 1 is grounded, the carriage 2 is moved in the direction of point B (the direction of the arrow in the figure) to perform a cutting operation, and from the point B to a point B' separated from the point B by a minute amount toward the central portion. Disconnect. After the cutting pen 1 reaches this point B ', the cutting pen 1 is raised, thereby creating a third cutting area and first and second non-cutting areas. At this point, the cut portion of the paper 4 has not yet been cut.

After the cutting area and the non-cutting area have been created, the drive roller 31 is rotated to the forward side to feed a predetermined amount of paper. Thereafter, the drive roller 31 is moved in the minus direction by a small amount to the negative side, that is, the paper is moved in the −X direction by a distance sufficiently shorter than the distance from the uncut portion of the paper held by the roller in the paper feeding operation to the boundary portion of the paper. Feed paper at a high acceleration. At this time, an inertial force with respect to its own weight is generated in the cut portion of the paper, and the uncut portion of the paper tries to raise the cut portion in the −X direction by the first and second non-cut regions. The uncut area is cut by the inertial force, whereby the cut portion is cut off. After the separating operation is completed, the apparatus again forms a pattern (cutting).
Return to operation.

The minute width of the non-cut area in this embodiment slightly varies depending on the type, size, thickness, and the like of the paper, but a width of about 1 mm enables generally satisfactory cutting. In the present embodiment, two uncut areas are created near the point where the width of the paper is equally divided into three.
However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the first, second, and third cutting region portions may be configured to have different lengths. You may be comprised so that one or more may be created.

[0017]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when the paper is cut off, the paper is cut in the end direction from the inner part of the paper, so that the paper is wound by the blade of the cutting pen 1. In addition, a non-cutting area was created, and this portion was cut using the paper's own weight and paper feeding operation.Therefore, the paper was not torn by its own weight unlike a conventional device. In addition, there is an effect that the paper can be separated without adding a new cutting mechanism to the conventional device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a cutting plotter according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a cutting plotter used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a problem caused by a conventional device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a problem caused by a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cutting pen 2 Carriage 3 Cutting medium holding mechanism 4 Cutting medium 5 Control circuit 6 Base

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A medium transfer means for transferring a continuous drawing medium in the X direction, a drawing means transfer means for transferring the drawing means in the Y direction, a medium cutting means for cutting the drawing medium in the Y direction while moving in the Y direction, Control means for controlling these means, operating the medium transfer means and the drawing means transfer means under the control means, creating a desired image for each screen on the drawing medium, In a medium separation method of a medium transfer type plotter in which a cutting operation is performed to separate and print the medium for every one screen or a plurality of screens, a medium to be separated is applied with a slight force.
Cut the above media leaving uncut area to be held in
And, to transferring the medium by operating the media transport means
This is better for the media to be separated
A medium that is connected to the non-cutting area by a load that is greater than a slight force that is applied thereto, thereby separating the medium.