JP5956738B2 - Braille forming method and braille applicator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a braille forming method and a braille applicator, for example, a braille forming method and a braille applicator that can form braille on various materials using a general-purpose resin.

  In recent years, in order to support the elderly and persons with disabilities to advance into society, the development of systems such as laws and standards, and the development of facilities and equipment based on the concept of barrier-free and universal design are progressing. Among them, Braille is the most commonly used means for assisting visually impaired people.

  Braille is composed of a total of six convex points, each consisting of three vertical dots and two horizontal rows, and represents 50 sounds, alphabets, numbers, etc., with or without convex points (see FIG. 12). In order to write this Braille, it is common to use a Braille device or Braille typewriter that forms a convex point by deforming the paper by directly pressing a pin-like object against the paper. However, recently, braille has been formed using materials other than paper, such as plastics and metals, using various resins, such as photo-curing resins, thermosetting resins, and hot melts, without deforming the materials. It has become like this. Among the above-mentioned resins, colorless and transparent UV-curing resins, especially when printed over printed materials made for sighted people (who can see things for the visually impaired) It is attracting attention because braille can be formed without impairing the visibility of text and drawings.

  Currently, screen printing is the mainstream method for forming braille using the above-described resins (particularly, ultraviolet curable resins). Screen printing is a type of stencil printing, and is a printing method in which ink is pushed out from a hole in a plate and transferred. This will be briefly described with reference to FIG. First, a screen 59 woven with a fiber such as polyester is stretched and fixed on a frame 60, a film 61 is formed on the surface except for necessary portions, and a plate is made by closing the weave of the screen 59. Then, the ink 62 is placed on the screen 59 on which the plate is made, and a spatula called a squeegee 63 is moved while pressing the screen 59. Then, the ink 62 passes through the texture of the part without the film 61 and is pushed out and printed on the substrate 64 placed underneath.

Screen printing has the advantages of being able to print on various materials and shapes, but it also has the following disadvantages. First, changing the contents requires creating a new version, which is costly and time consuming. Second, if there are many variations, the number of plates will increase and maintenance and management will become complicated. Third, since the squeegee slides directly on the screen, it is inferior in durability and cannot be used for a certain period of time. Fourth, it is necessary to keep the viscosity of the photocurable resin to be used relatively low. Therefore, since the resin transferred to the adherend flows, only a ridge having a height of about 0.3 mm can be formed.
Therefore, in order to solve the problems of the screen printing as described above, those employing a dispensing system (for example, Patent Document 1) and those employing an ink jet system (for example, Patent Document 2) have been proposed so far. .

JP 2000-148001 A JP-A-5-330151

  However, in the dispensing method disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to discharge a material having a high viscosity such as an ultraviolet curable resin, for example, an amine compound is added, and a special property such as thixotropy is imparted to the resin material. I had to do it. With normal resin materials that do not give swaying properties, the liquid from the nozzles becomes poor, causing stringing phenomena, etc., resulting in point shape defects (for example, a protrusion like “two” on the surface of a point) , The “one” would fall and become non-circular). In Braille, which is recognized by directly touching with a finger, a shape defect is a problem that cannot be ignored.

  On the other hand, in the ink jet method of Patent Document 2, in order to discharge a material having a high viscosity such as an ultraviolet curable resin, it is necessary to reduce the viscosity of the resin material by heating with a heater. For this purpose, additional elements such as installation of a heating device and a design to provide heat resistance are necessary. Also, heating is not preferable because it affects the physical properties of the resin. Furthermore, since the amount of one droplet is as small as pL (picoliter), it takes a time of several hundred to several thousand orders to form one point in Braille, which takes time. was there. Further, since a plurality of droplets are ejected to substantially the same location, the droplets collide with each other, and if the viscosity is low, scattering may be a problem.

  Then, this invention solves the said subject and aims at providing the technique which makes it possible to form a braille with a favorable shape with a general-purpose resin material in a short time.

A first aspect of the present invention is a Braille forming method for forming Braille by dropping and applying a liquid material onto a work while relatively moving the discharge device and the work, and the liquid material is imparted with instability. A UV curable resin having a viscosity of 5 to 20 pa · s, and the discharge device communicates with a flow path in the nozzle, a liquid chamber to which a liquid material is supplied, an advancing position for closing an inlet of the flow path in the nozzle, and and a piston having a retracted position by 1-10 droplets ejected flying from the discharge port of the nozzle of the discharge device, and braille forming step of forming a point one constituting the braille on the workpiece, A braille forming method comprising: a first ultraviolet irradiation step for maintaining a shape of a point formed on the workpiece; and a second ultraviolet irradiation step for curing the point formed on the workpiece. It is .

A second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, one point constituting a Braille is formed on a workpiece by one droplet ejected from a nozzle of the ejection device.
A third invention is characterized in that, in the first or second invention, a diameter of the discharge port of the nozzle is 0.1 to 0.7 mm.

A fourth invention is a braille applicator that forms a braille by dropping and applying a liquid material onto a work while moving the nozzle and the work relative to each other. A liquid chamber, a discharge device including a piston having an advancing position and a retreat position for closing the inlet of the flow path in the nozzle, a table for holding a workpiece, and a drive mechanism for relatively moving the discharge device and the table. , An ultraviolet irradiation device for irradiating the table with ultraviolet rays, a storage container that communicates with the liquid chamber and stores an ultraviolet curable resin having a viscosity of 5 to 20 pa · s that is not provided with instability, a discharge device, and a drive A control unit that controls the operation of the mechanism, and the control unit constitutes Braille on the workpiece by 1 to 10 liquid droplets flying and ejected from the ejection port of the nozzle of the ejection device. Form As such, the discharge device and to control the operation of the drive mechanism, wherein the control unit includes a first ultraviolet light irradiation step for holding the shape of the point formed on the workpiece by the ultraviolet irradiation apparatus, wherein And a second ultraviolet irradiation step of curing a point formed on the workpiece by the ultraviolet irradiation device .

According to a fifth invention, in the fourth invention, an input device, a display device, a storage device for storing a Braille data creation program, and a Braille data creation device having an arithmetic device for executing the Braille data creation program, The Braille application device is provided with an arithmetic device that executes the Braille data creation program and automatically creates Braille data from the character data input by the input device and displays the Braille image on the display device in real time.

According to a sixth aspect , in the fifth aspect , the arithmetic device that has executed the Braille data creation program causes the display device to display character data corresponding to the Braille image side by side in the vicinity of the Braille image. .
According to a seventh invention, in the fifth or sixth invention, the Braille data creation program includes means for causing the display device to display the captured application object image and the Braille expression image superimposed on the application object image. It is characterized by.
According to an eighth invention, in any one of the fifth to seventh inventions, in the storage device of the Braille data creation device, a coating operation program for automatically creating a coating operation program for controlling the coating operation of the ejection device from the created Braille data The operation program creation program is stored, and the arithmetic unit that has executed the application operation program creation program automatically creates the application operation program.

A ninth invention is characterized in that, in any of the fourth to eighth inventions, a measuring device for measuring the shape of the applied liquid material is provided.
According to a tenth aspect , in the ninth aspect , the measurement device is a contact-type measurement device.
An eleventh invention is characterized in that in any one of the fourth to tenth inventions, a discarding table and a discarding work are provided.
In a twelfth aspect of the invention according to any one of the fourth to eleventh aspects, the control unit forms Braille on the workpiece by one droplet ejected and ejected from the ejection port of the nozzle of the ejection device. The operations of the discharge device and the drive mechanism are controlled so as to form the point .
A thirteenth invention is characterized in that, in any one of the fourth to twelfth inventions, the diameter of the discharge port of the nozzle is 0.1 to 0.7 mm.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to form a Braille having a good shape without giving a change to a high viscosity material such as an ultraviolet curable resin. In addition, since a large amount of liquid droplets are ejected for Braille formation, Braille can be applied and formed in a shorter time than an inkjet method.

It is a schematic perspective view of the braille application device concerning a 1st embodiment. It is principal part sectional drawing of the discharge apparatus with which the braille coating device which concerns on 1st Embodiment is provided. It is explanatory drawing of the main screen of the braille data creation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the braille input and correction screen of the braille data creation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows a Braille data creation procedure. It is a flowchart which shows an application | coating operation | movement procedure. It is explanatory drawing explaining the laser displacement meter which is one aspect | mode of the measuring apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the image processing apparatus which is the one aspect | mode of the measuring apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the contact-type measuring apparatus which is one aspect | mode of the measuring apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the discarding table and discarding workpiece | work which concern on 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the figure drawing function which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining a 6-point braille. It is explanatory drawing explaining the screen printing which is a prior art.

Below, the form example for implementing this invention is demonstrated.
<< First Embodiment >>
(1) Coating device The coating device 1 of the present embodiment is a Braille coating device that forms braille with resin on various materials. As shown in FIG. 1, the driving mechanism 2, the discharge device 12, and Braille data. The creation device 19 and the ultraviolet irradiation device 26 are main components.
The drive mechanism 2 includes an X drive mechanism 3 that can move in the direction of reference numeral 6, a Y drive mechanism 4 that can move in the direction of reference numeral 7, and a Z drive mechanism 5 that can move in the direction of reference numeral 8. The robot controller 9 for controlling these operations is provided inside the housing. A discharge head 15 is installed in the Z drive mechanism 5, and the Z drive mechanism 5 is provided on the X drive mechanism 3. The Y drive mechanism 4 is provided with a table 10 on which the work 11 is placed and fixed. Thereby, the discharge head 15 can be moved relative to the workpiece 11 in the XYZ directions (6, 7, 8).

The discharge device 12 includes a storage container 13 for storing the liquid resin material 14, a discharge head 15 to which the storage container 13 is attached, and a discharge mechanism for discharging the liquid resin material 14 flowing from the storage container 13, and a compressed compressed gas. And a dispense controller 16 for supplying a working gas for operating the discharge mechanism.
The liquid resin material 14 stored in the storage container 13 is exemplified by an ultraviolet curable acrylic resin, but is not limited thereto. A preferable viscosity range of the liquid resin material 14 is, for example, 5000 to 20000 cps (5 to 20 pa · s). The dispense controller 16 is connected by a communication cable 17 for receiving a signal from the drive mechanism 2. Details of the structure of the ejection head 15 will be described later.

  The Braille data creation device 19 includes an input device including a keyboard 20 and a mouse 21 for inputting character data, a storage device 22 for storing the created Braille data and a coating operation program, a work image 43 and the created Braille data. And the like, and a processing device 24. The Braille data creation device 19 is preferably separated from the drive mechanism 2 using a commercially available personal computer (PC) or the like. The braille data creation device 19 is connected by a transfer cable 25 for transferring the braille data to the coating device 1. Details of the braille data creation function of the braille data creation device 19 will be described later.

  In this embodiment, since it is premised on using an ultraviolet curable resin, the ultraviolet irradiation device 26 is needed in order to harden the resin after application | coating. The ultraviolet irradiation device 26 includes an irradiation unit 27 and a main body unit 28. Although the ultraviolet irradiation device 26 installed in another place may be used, it is preferable to provide the ultraviolet irradiation device 26 in the Braille coating device 1 in order to irradiate the resin in a good state immediately after coating with ultraviolet rays. Here, the irradiation unit 27 is provided integrally with the ejection head 15 in the Z drive mechanism 5, but may be provided separately from the ejection head 15. In this embodiment, since the irradiation part 27 is provided in the vicinity of the ejection head 15, the resin can be cured quickly in a short time after application. The main body 28 is installed beside the drive mechanism 2 and is connected to the irradiation unit 27 by a cable 29.

A shielding cover is preferably provided between the irradiation unit 27 and the ejection head 15. By doing so, the liquid resin material 14 before the application of the ejection head 15 is not affected.
Braille data can be created at a predetermined position on the work image 43 serving as a background image. As the work image 43, image data stored in advance in the storage device 22 or image data captured by the image data creation device 30 can be used. As the image data creation device 30, for example, a digital camera or a scanner that reads a photograph or drawing of a work being printed can be used.

(2) Discharge Device, Discharge Head The structure of the above-described discharge head 15 will be described with reference to FIG. The discharge head 15 of the present embodiment is a so-called jet type discharge device. The jet type discharge device has a piston (plunger) installed in the discharge head so as to be movable up and down, and divides the liquid material by colliding the piston with a valve seat (liquid chamber wall), and a discharge port at the tip of the nozzle More flying and discharging.
The discharge head 15 of the present embodiment includes a piston 31 that reciprocates, a nozzle 36 that communicates with the liquid chamber 35 and discharges the liquid resin material 14 that flows from the storage container 13, and a spring 33 that moves the piston 31 downward. A stroke adjusting member 34 is provided on the upper portion of the spring 33 for adjusting the moving amount of the piston 31. Further, the discharge head 15 stores the liquid resin material 14 and supplies the storage container 13 pressurized by the compressed gas adjusted through the dispense controller 16 and the working gas for moving the piston 31 upward. 16 is connected to a switching valve 32 that supplies and exhausts air through the exhaust gas. The discharge head 15 of this embodiment can form one point constituting Braille with 1 to 10 droplets of the liquid resin material. The diameter of one point constituting the braille is, for example, 1.3 to 1.7 mm, and the height is, for example, 0.3 to 0.5 mm. The diameter of the discharge port of the nozzle 36 is preferably 0.1 to 0.7 mm, for example. In FIG. 2, the diameter of the discharge port of the nozzle 36 and the diameter of the nozzle inlet 37 are the same, but the discharge port may have a smaller diameter than the nozzle inlet.

The discharge device 12 including the discharge head 15 operates as follows.
A state where the piston 31 is pushed down by the spring 33 and the piston tip 38 is in contact with the nozzle inlet 37 and is closed is defined as an initial state. First, when the signal transmitted from the dispense controller 16 is turned ON, the switching valve 32 is operated to supply the working gas to the chamber 39 above the discharge head 15, and the piston 31 is raised to open the nozzle inlet 37. Then, due to the pressure of the compressed compressed gas supplied from the dispense controller 16, the liquid resin material 14 filled in the storage container 13 flows into the nozzle 36 through the piston tip 38 portion. When the signal transmitted from the dispense controller 16 is turned OFF after a predetermined time has elapsed, the switching valve 32 is activated to exhaust the working gas from the chamber 39 above the discharge head 15, and the piston 31 is lowered by the repulsive force of the spring 33. Then, the nozzle inlet 37 is closed. By this closing, the liquid resin material 14 is pushed out from the nozzle 36, separated, and discharged in the form of droplets. The liquid resin material 14 discharged from the nozzle 36 adheres to the workpiece 11 placed below the nozzle 36 in a dot shape. That is, the rise of the piston 31 (opening of the nozzle inlet 37) and the closing of the piston 31 (closing of the nozzle inlet 37) are taken as one unit, and one drop of the liquid resin material 14 is discharged by one unit of operation.

  The relationship between the discharge amount represented by the point height and the diameter and various conditions such as the pressure of the gas supplied to the storage container 13, the movement amount of the stroke adjusting member 34, the opening and closing time of the piston 31, the diameter of the nozzle 36, etc. It may be obtained by conducting an experiment in advance and set in a table. By doing so, adjustment to the desired discharge amount becomes much easier. In addition, even if there is a change in the surrounding environment such as temperature and humidity, it can be used as a guide, and the adjustment time can be shortened. These adjustments are basically performed by manually adjusting the ejection head 15 and the dispense controller 16, but by adding a communication function to the dispense controller 16, it is possible to make adjustments without operating directly. it can. For example, by executing a remote operation program stored in the storage device 22 of the Braille data creation device 19, various parameters can be set remotely. The parameters to be adjusted here are, for example, the pressure of the gas supplied to the storage container 13 and the opening / closing time of the piston 31.

  As described above, since the piston 31 opens and closes the nozzle inlet 37 for each drop, variation of each drop can be reduced, and discharge can be performed with high accuracy with respect to the target value. In particular, since the piston 31 “closes” the nozzle inlet 37, even a material having a high viscosity can be discharged well.

(3) Braille data creation function The Braille data creation device 19 creates a Braille data creation function (Braille data creation program) that creates Braille data from character (inkbill) data input by software. It has a program creation function (coating operation program creation program) for creating a coating operation program. 3 and 4 show operation screens of the braille data creation device.

  FIG. 3 is a main screen 40 displayed on the display device 23 of the Braille data creation device 19. The main screen 40 includes a display unit 41 that occupies most of the screen and an operation unit 42 on which a plurality of buttons for various operations are arranged. The display unit 41 displays a work image 43 captured by the image data creation device 30 and a Braille box 44 representing a region to which Braille is applied. The work image 43 is a background image that is not edited on the main screen 40, and the braille box 44 is displayed so as to overlap the work image 43. The work image 43 is displayed with a light color so that Braille can be easily identified. The Braille box 44 displays not only the Braille characters but also the corresponding ink characters under the Braille characters, which are displayed for easy input / correction work. Only Braille is applied. Further, the frame line of the Braille box 44 is also for work and is not actually applied.

FIG. 4 shows an input / correction screen 45 for inputting / correcting Braille in the Braille box 44 described above. At the bottom of the input / correction screen 45, buttons (46, 47) for switching between kana input and 6-point input (directly input Braille using any 6 keys on the keyboard corresponding to each point of Braille) , And a button 48 for displaying a software keyboard.
When the operator double-clicks the braille box 44, the input / correction screen 45 is called. The operator corrects the braille displayed in the braille box 44 by inputting character (ink character) data or braille data to the area 49 using the input device.

When Kana is input as ink character data in the area 49, Braille conversion is performed in real time, and the input ink character data and the corresponding Braille characters are displayed separately in the vertical direction. In the case of 6-point input, the reverse conversion (braille to ink) is performed and displayed. In other words, when Braille data is input, ink character conversion is performed in real time, and the input Braille data and the corresponding ink characters are displayed side by side vertically.
When the input / correction screen 45 is closed, the input / correction mode is terminated and the content is displayed in the braille box 44. In FIGS. 3 and 4, a place with a dot is represented by a black circle, and a place without a dot is represented by a horizontal bar.
By completing the creation of braille data on the main screen 40 and storing the created data in the storage device 22, an application operation program can be automatically created.

(4) Operation Flow The operation flow of the coating apparatus of the present embodiment will be described in two stages: (a) creation of braille data and (b) coating work, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

(A) Creation of braille data (Fig. 5)
With reference to FIG. 5, a description will be given of the procedure for creating Braille data of a sentence or word and a coating operation program.
First, before actually creating Braille data, information on the workpiece 11 to be coated is input (STEP 101). What is input is the size of the workpiece 11 and the position when the workpiece 11 is placed on the table 10. As the size of the work 11, the length in the horizontal direction (X direction) and the length in the vertical direction (Y direction) when the work 11 is placed on the table 10 are set. In the case of a rectangle, the outer dimensions are the same, but in the case of a shape other than a rectangle (such as a circle or a polygon), the maximum length in each of the horizontal and vertical directions is used. The position of the work 11 on the table 10 is the distance from the origin of each axis of the drive mechanism 2 to the feature point (corner, alignment mark, etc.) of the work 11. This value may be fixed by providing a jig on the table 10 so that the workpiece 11 can always be placed at the same position.

  Next, the work image 43 is read into the braille data creation device 19 (STEP 102). For the work image 43, data prepared in advance is used, or data of the work image 43 acquired by the image data creation device 30 connected to the coating apparatus 1 is used. The workpiece image 43 is an image from a direction perpendicular to the surface to be coated, and the entire workpiece 11 is preferably shown in one image. When the data reading is completed, the work image 43 is displayed as a background on the display unit 41 of the main screen 40 of the braille data creation device. By displaying the work image 43 as a background, the Braille box 44 can be accurately arranged at a desired position. In addition, since the image after the braille box 44 is arranged is almost the same image as the finished product, it is possible to examine the arrangement of the braille without performing trial application (that is, without wasting the liquid resin material 14). it can.

  Next, text / word data to be created on the work 11 is input (STEP 103). At the beginning of the input operation, a braille box 44 having a desired size is created at a desired position. The created braille box 44 is displayed so as to overlap the work image 43. When the displayed braille box 44 is double-clicked, a braille input / correction screen 45 is displayed (see FIG. 4). On this input / correction screen 45, text / word data is input from the input device. When the input / correction screen 45 is closed, braille corresponding to the input sentence / word data is displayed in the braille box 44.

  When the input is completed, the arrangement of the braille box 44 is adjusted (STEP 104). The braille box 44 can be moved on the screen by an input device (such as a mouse) and can be arranged at a desired position. If there is no problem with the arrangement of the braille boxes 44 created in STEP 102, this operation is unnecessary. When there are a plurality of sentences and words, the above STEP 103 and STEP 104 are repeated.

When the input of all text / word data is completed, an operation of creating a coating operation program from the created braille data is performed (STEP 105). The application operation program is created by pressing a creation button (not shown). The application operation program in the present embodiment refers to a program for moving the ejection head 15 connecting each point of Braille with a straight line along a movement path (application pattern).
One Braille character is expressed by six points formed by combining point formation points and point non-formation points. The ejection head 15 performs ejection at a point formation point and does not eject at a point non-formation point. The ejection head 15 does not necessarily pass through point non-formation points (points at which ejection is not performed), and may move so as to connect the point formation points (points at which ejection is performed) with a straight line.

  By the way, each point of the 6-point Braille is assigned a number (see FIG. 12), 1 point from the left column, 2 points, 3 points, 4 points from the right column, 5 points, 6 points. This number will be described below. First, consider a path within one Braille character. The simplest way of tying is to tie from point 1 to point 6 in order. To shorten the moving distance, instead of moving from point 1 to point 3 and then moving to point 4, move to the next adjacent point 6 and connect from point 6 to point 4. Good. As the path between characters, the simplest way to connect is to connect the first character 6 point to the second character 1 point. The knotting method for shortening the moving distance is to tie the first point of the second character to the first point of the second character. By repeating one of these, a route in one Braille box 44 is created. When a line break is made in the braille box 44 to connect to the next line character, or to connect between the braille boxes 44, the last point (point 6 or point 4) of the line or box and the next line or next line Just connect one point on the box. Thus, an application pattern can be formed by connecting all the Braille discharge points (braille formation points) on the display unit 41. The application program is created based on this application pattern.

  Before transferring the created application program to the controller 9 of the application apparatus 1, various parameters relating to Braille are set (STEP 106). The various parameters relating to Braille to be set here are mainly the distance between the dots within one Braille character (X direction and Y direction) and the distance between characters (X direction and Y direction). In addition, parameters relating to the coating apparatus 1 are also set. Parameters relating to the coating apparatus 1 are mainly the moving speed of the drive mechanism 2 and the height of the ejection head 15 during movement. When these numerical values are changed and confirmed, the application operation program is recreated.

When the parameter setting is completed, the coating operation program is transferred to the coating apparatus 1 (STEP 107). The transfer is performed by pressing a transfer button (not shown). This completes the process from input to transfer.
The created braille data can be stored in the storage device 22 together with the data of the work image 43 or alone. In addition, a coating operation program associated therewith can be stored at the same time.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the braille can be easily arranged while referring to the corresponding ink characters. In addition, since there is a work image in the background, it is easy to imagine the completed form, so that the rework of the coating pattern can be reduced.
In addition, when colorless and transparent UV-curing resin is used, the visibility of ink characters and drawings will not be impaired even if braille is applied to existing printed matter, etc. Can be met at once.

(B) Application work (FIG. 6)
When the creation of the braille data, the creation of the application operation program, and the transfer to the controller 9 are completed, the application operation is started.
First, the liquid resin material 14 is filled in the storage container 13 so that the discharge device 12 can be discharged, and the discharge conditions are adjusted (STEP 201). The adjustment of the discharge condition refers to the adjustment of the amount of one drop of the liquid resin material 14 discharged from the discharge device 12. The pressure of the gas supplied to the storage container 13, the amount of movement of the stroke adjusting member 34, the piston 31. This is performed by adjusting the opening / closing time and the diameter of the nozzle 36. At that time, the adjustment is remarkably facilitated by using a table in which the relationship between the discharge amount and various conditions is obtained. Further, the remote adjustment can be performed by executing a remote operation program from the Braille data creation device 19 or the like.

  Next, the work 11 is placed and fixed on the table 10 (STEP 202). As a work fixing method, a plurality of holes communicating from the inside of the table 10 to the upper surface are formed, and the work 11 is sucked and fixed by sucking air from the holes. The work 11 is sandwiched between fixing members, and the member is screwed. For example, a method of fixing the work by fixing to the table 10 by a fixing means such as the above. In consideration of easy handling, it is preferable to employ adsorption fixation. In the case of adsorption fixation, it is necessary to prepare a separate vacuum source and control adsorption on / off.

  When the above operations are completed, coating is started (STEP 203). In the present embodiment, since the jet type ejection device is adopted for the ejection head 15, the liquid resin material 14 is separated from the nozzle 36 for each ejection and flies as a droplet and adheres to the work 11. It is possible to discharge while moving without stopping each time.

After the application, the ultraviolet curable resin (liquid resin material) 57 applied to the workpiece 11 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays and cured (STEP 204). The ultraviolet irradiation device 26 used in the present embodiment does not illuminate the whole at once, but irradiates a range limited to a spot shape. Therefore, it is necessary to move the irradiation unit 27 on the work 11 in order to cure all the application points. As the movement path of the irradiation unit 27, the same movement path as the coating operation program, a movement path that scans the entire work 11 in accordance with the size of the work 11, and the like can be considered. When considering this movement path, it is necessary to take into account the difference in attachment position between the ejection head 15 and the irradiation unit 27. Moreover, you may irradiate in multiple times instead of hardening by one irradiation. For example, depending on the wettability of the workpiece 11 and the resin or the weight of the resin itself, the liquid resin material 57 applied in a dot shape may try to spread, but in order to maintain a good shape immediately after application, a plurality of times are required. Is effective. That is, in order not to break the shape of the liquid resin material 57 applied in the form of dots, the irradiation unit 27 is temporarily moved relatively quickly for the first time to perform temporary curing, and the second and subsequent times are slowly moved relatively to be cured to the end. To do. The relative moving speed of the irradiation unit 27 can be arbitrarily set.
When applying to a plurality of workpieces 11, STEP 202 to STEP 203 are repeated.

(5) Effects, etc. In this embodiment, since the amount of one drop is more than 1000 times larger than that of the ink jet method, one point of Braille can be formed with one drop. By forming one point of Braille with a single drop, the Braille formation time can be shortened, so that curing with ultraviolet rays can be performed before the shape of the Braille collapses. Further, the time required for the coating operation can be shortened.
It is also possible to form Braille with a plurality of drops. By forming the braille with a plurality of drops, the braille shape can be finely drawn. That is, the braille shape can be controlled more precisely. In the case of forming with a plurality of droplets, from a result of an experiment under a specific condition by a prototype, when one point is formed with a droplet preferably within 10 droplets, more preferably within 5 droplets, a point having a good shape (for example, an upper surface) It was confirmed that a point with a circular shape and no “one” could be formed.

<< Second Embodiment >>
The Braille applicator of the second embodiment is the same as the Braille applicator of the first embodiment (FIG. 1), provided with a measuring device composed of a laser displacement meter and a camera, a throwing table and a throwing work, and a graphic drawing function. It is a thing. Below, the description about the structure which overlaps with 1st Embodiment is abbreviate | omitted, and only an additional structure shall be demonstrated.

(1) Measuring device To determine the quality of the shape of the applied point (application point), the person who makes the determination may make direct contact and check, but a request from a skilled judge is required. Expenses also increase. In this respect, if the determination is made by the machine, the objectivity can be maintained and the quality can be easily managed. Therefore, in this embodiment, a measuring device for measuring the shape of the braille is provided. The measuring device may be provided in the Z drive mechanism 5 integrally with the discharge head 15 so as to be able to move relative to the workpiece 11, or may be provided separately from the discharge head 15. There are two types of measuring devices: a non-contact type that performs measurement without touching an object, and a contact type that performs measurement by touching the object. If it is a non-contact type, the state immediately after application can be measured before curing, and if it is a contact type, a measurement closer to that after curing can be performed. Select according to the purpose. 7 to 9 show examples of measuring devices. 7 and 8 are non-contact types, and FIG. 9 is a contact type. Each will be briefly described below.

(I) Laser displacement meter (Fig. 7)
The laser displacement meter 50 is a device that measures the displacement by reading the difference in position where the laser beam 51 applied to the measurement object is reflected by being reflected by the object. The procedure for measuring the diameter of the application point 57 by combining the laser displacement meter 50 and the drive mechanism 2 is as follows. First, the laser displacement meter 50 is moved to bring the laser beam 51 closer to the application point 57. When the laser beam 51 reaches the end of the application point 57, a change is observed in the measured value, and the coordinates of the point (first coordinate) are recorded. Similarly, the coordinates (second coordinates) when the laser beam 51 reaches the end of the application point 57 are recorded from the opposite side. The difference between the first and second coordinate values is the diameter of the application point 57. Here, when the laser beam 51 is scanned, it is necessary to move along a straight line passing through the center of the application point 57. By changing the moving direction of the laser beam 51 and moving to a cross shape, for example, more accurate measurement can be performed. At this time, instead of moving the laser beam from the end of the cross toward the center, the coordinates of the point at which no change in the measured value can be seen across the center of the cross may be recorded.

Further, the height of the application point 57 is measured using the laser displacement meter 50 as follows. First, the height of the surface of the workpiece 11 to which the liquid resin material 14 is not applied is first measured. Next, the height of the highest point of the application point 57 is measured. And the height of the application point 57 is calculated | required from the difference. At this time, the highest point can be easily found by moving along a straight line passing through the center of the application point 57.
As can be seen from the above, it is also possible to measure the diameter and the height at once by combining the measuring procedure of the diameter and the measuring procedure of the height.

(Ii) Imaging type (FIG. 8)
An image from right above the application point 57 and / or an image from right side is picked up by the CCD camera 52 and the like, and the diameter and height of the application point can be measured by image processing.
For example, the following modes can be considered. The first is to provide one camera 52 that captures an image from the side (see FIG. 8). If the image is from the side, the diameter and height of the application point 57 can be obtained at a time. The second is to provide one camera 52 for capturing images from directly above and from the side. By capturing an image from directly above, the roundness of the application point 57 can be measured and determined. The third method is to provide one camera 52 that captures an image from directly above, and to capture an image from the side using a mirror installed at an angle. The image that can be captured is the same as the second one, but differs in that only one camera 52 is required.

(Iii) Contact type (FIG. 9)
The dial gauge 53 is illustrated as a typical example of the contact-type measuring device. The dial gauge 53 is preferably of a type that can electrically output measurement values.
The measurement with the dial gauge 53 differs only in that the contact 54 touches the workpiece 11 and the application point 57. The method of measuring the diameter and height of the application point 57 is the same as that of the laser displacement meter 50 of (i) above. It is the same. The tip of the contact 54 is preferably spherical or roller-shaped so as not to damage the application point 57 as much as possible.
As a contact-type measuring device other than the dial gauge 53, for example, a device using a differential transformer or a device using a linear scale can be used.

(2) Discarding table and discarding workpiece When applying for the first time, or when there is time between application and the next application, the first few drops should be different from the expected one There is. Therefore, before the main application, the main application is performed after the application to the outside of the application target area of the work 11 or a completely different place. This is called “disposal application”. When braille is formed, it is considered that there is no area outside the application target area in the work 11, so a table 55 and a work 56 for discarding may be provided separately. FIG. 10 shows the mode.

In FIG. 10, the disposal table 55 is attached to the main application table 10. However, as long as the ejection head 15 can be moved, it can be separated from the main application table 10 and fixed at a different location. Good. At this time, it is preferable to provide the discard table 55 at the same height as the main application table 10. By doing so, the droplets fly and adhere under the same conditions as the main application, and the above-described measurement and use in advance experiments are also possible.
It is preferable that a discarding work 56 is placed on the discarding table 55. If the discarding work 56 is used, maintenance work such as cleaning of the discarding table 55 is facilitated. As a fixing method of the discarding work 56, it is preferable to use the same means as the main application table 10, for example, suction fixing or fixing with a jig.

(3) Graphic drawing function (FIG. 11)
A continuous line (straight line, curved line) is formed by applying droplets continuously, and a tactile map (a graphic or symbol used in a guide map, layout diagram, etc. is displayed in a convex manner) is created. It is also possible.
In the present embodiment, a graphic drawing button 58 is provided on the operation unit 42 on the main screen 40 of the first embodiment, and a graphic to be a coating pattern is drawn using this. The point with the work image 43 as the background is the same as in the first embodiment. Specifically, after the line type is selected with the graphic drawing button 58, the movement path of the nozzle 36 is displayed on the display unit 41 of the main screen 40 using a pointing device such as a mouse (indicated by a cursor on the screen). Draw (start point, pass point, end point). By drawing the movement path of the nozzle 36 on the display section 41 in this way, a coating operation program for creating a tactile map can be automatically created.

  Equipment such as information boards and handrails, machine operation parts such as ticket machines, vending machines, and elevators, business cards, pamphlets, restaurant menus, and other daily products such as medicine packages and beverage containers The present invention can be applied to fields and products.

1: Coating device 2: Driving mechanism 3: X driving mechanism 4: Y driving mechanism 5: Z driving mechanism 6: X moving direction 7: Y moving direction 8: Z moving direction 9: Robot controller 10: Table 11: Work 12: Discharge device 13: Storage container 14: Liquid resin material 15: Discharge head 16: Dispense controller 17: Communication cable 18: Tube 19: Braille data creation device 20: Keyboard 21: Mouse 22: Storage device 23: Display device 24: Processing device 25: Transfer cable 26: Ultraviolet irradiation device 27: Irradiation unit 28: Main unit 29: Cable 30: Image data creation device 31: Piston 32: Switching valve 33: Spring 34: Stroke adjustment member 35: Liquid chamber 36: Nozzle 37: Nozzle inlet 38: Piston tip 39: Chamber 40: Male Screen 41: Display unit 42: Operation unit 43: Work image 44: Braille box 45: Braille input / correction screen 46: Kana input button 47: 6-point input button 48: Software keyboard button 49: Input area 50: Laser displacement Total 51: Laser light 52: Camera 53: Dial gauge 54: Contact 55: Discarding table 56: Discarding work 57: Applied liquid resin material (braille) 58: Graphic drawing button 59: 紗 (screen) 60: Frame 61: Film 62: Ink 63: Squeegee 64: Printed material

Claims (13)

A braille forming method for forming braille by dropping and applying a liquid material onto the work while relatively moving the discharge device and the work,
The liquid material is an ultraviolet curable resin having a viscosity of 5 to 20 pa · s that is not imparted with instability.
The discharge device includes a liquid chamber that communicates with the flow path in the nozzle and is supplied with a liquid material, and a piston having an advance position and a retreat position that closes the inlet of the flow path in the nozzle,
A Braille forming step of forming one point constituting Braille on the workpiece by 1 to 10 droplets flying and ejected from the discharge port of the nozzle of the discharge device ;
A first ultraviolet irradiation step for maintaining the shape of the point formed on the workpiece;
A second ultraviolet irradiation step for curing the points formed on the workpiece;
A braille forming method characterized by comprising: 2. The Braille forming method according to claim 1 , wherein one point constituting Braille is formed on the workpiece by one droplet discharged from a nozzle of the discharge device. 3. The braille forming method according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the discharge port of the nozzle is 0.1 to 0.7 mm. A braille applicator that forms braille by dripping and applying a liquid material onto a work while relatively moving the nozzle and the work,
A liquid chamber that communicates with the flow path in the nozzle and that is supplied with the liquid material, and a discharge device that includes a piston having an advancing position and a retreat position that closes the inlet of the flow path in the nozzle;
A table that holds the workpiece,
A drive mechanism for relatively moving the discharge device and the table;
An ultraviolet irradiation device for irradiating the table with ultraviolet rays;
A storage container that communicates with the liquid chamber and stores an ultraviolet curable resin having a viscosity of 5 to 20 pa · s that is not imparted with instability;
A control unit for controlling the operation of the discharge device and the drive mechanism,
The discharge device and the drive mechanism are configured such that the control unit forms one point constituting Braille on the workpiece by 1 to 10 liquid droplets flying and discharged from the discharge port of the nozzle of the discharge device. Controlling the operation of the
A first ultraviolet irradiation step for maintaining the shape of the point formed on the workpiece by the ultraviolet irradiation device; and a second for curing the point formed on the workpiece by the ultraviolet irradiation device. A Braille coating apparatus , wherein the ultraviolet irradiation process is performed . Furthermore, an input device, a display device, a storage device for storing the Braille data creation program, and a Braille data creation device having an arithmetic device for executing the Braille data creation program,
5. The Braille application device according to claim 4, wherein the arithmetic device that executes the Braille data creation program automatically creates Braille data from the character data input by the input device, and displays the Braille image in real time on the display device. 6. The Braille application device according to claim 5 , wherein the arithmetic device that has executed the Braille data creation program displays character data corresponding to the Braille image on the display device side by side in the vicinity of the Braille image. The Braille data creation program, Braille coating apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that it comprises means for displaying the braille representation images superimposed on the object to be coated image and the object to be coated image captured on the display device. The storage device of the braille data creation device stores a coating operation program creation program for automatically creating a coating operation program for controlling the coating operation of the discharge device from the created braille data,
The braille application device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the arithmetic unit that executes the application program creating program automatically creates the application program. The braille application device according to any one of claims 4 to 8, further comprising a measuring device that measures the shape of the applied liquid material. The braille application device according to claim 9, wherein the measuring device is a contact-type measuring device. Either braille coating apparatus of claims 4 to 10 purging workpiece, characterized in that it comprises a purging table is placed. Operation of the ejection device and the drive mechanism so that the control unit forms one point constituting Braille on the workpiece by one droplet ejected from the ejection port of the nozzle of the ejection device. 4 claims, characterized in that to control to any of the braille coating apparatus 11. The braille applicator according to any one of claims 4 to 12, wherein a diameter of the discharge port of the nozzle is 0.1 to 0.7 mm.