JPH01136795A - Method of supplementing lead in x-y plotter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To shorten the writing time by supplying a lead from a lead feeder to an empty pen being held at each pen holding part of a pen stocker when a writing head is writing on a writing face. CONSTITUTION: A writing head holding a pen P returns the pen back to the pen holding part of a stocker 16 when the lead thereof runs out and holds a pen P refilled with a lead being held by other holding part 18 thus sustaining the writing operation. Subsequently, the empty pen P is moved to a lead supply position directly under a lead container 24 through rotation of the discs 16a, 16b of the stocker 16. Consequently, an arm 56 is subjected to osctilatory rotation through a motor 52 and collides against the protrusion of an opposite arm 32 to lift the arm by the inclining face thereof. Consequently, a lead 26 is inserted into a lead guide 28 and dropped into the pen P after repeating collision a plurality of times. Subsequently, a cam 47 turns to lower the arm 56 thus pushing the lead 26 and discharge the residual lead into a residual lead receiver 48 before being reset. According to the arrangement, refilling operation can be carried out during the writing operation.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to lead replenishment in an X-Y plotter that automatically draws on the drawing surface using a writing instrument with a built-in consumable lead such as a lead lead. Regarding the method.

[Conventional technology]

Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-34982 discloses that a plurality of writing leads are held in a turret-type magazine of a plotter head, a desired writing lead is pressed with a push pin and brought into contact with the drawing surface, and the writing lead is used to draw the writing lead onto the drawing surface. Turret type X-Y for line drawing
A plotter is disclosed. Also, JP-A-57-138
No. 997 discloses that a rotary writing instrument stocker, ie, a carousel, is provided on the body side, a lead cartridge in which a writing lead is inserted is held in a plurality of pen holding parts of the carousel, and a pen on the drawing head side and a pen on the carousel are held. An x-y plotter is disclosed in which the lead cartridge can be exchanged between the cartridge and the holder.

Further, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-80996, a lead case is provided in a writing block provided in a drawing head, and one lead in the lead case is supplied to a holder in the writing block and held by the lead. An XY plotter is disclosed that draws lines on a drawing surface using a writing lead.

Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-132394, a plurality of pen holding sections of a writing instrument stocker provided in the machine body hold a writing instrument with a built-in lead automatic feeding mechanism, and the pen holding section on the stocker side and the drawing head side. An X-Y plotter is disclosed in which writing instruments can be exchanged with a pen holder.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above-mentioned turret type X-Y plotter and X-Y plotter with a lead case provided on the plotting head hold multiple lead cartridges in the plotting head, and are equipped with a lead case to store multiple leads, so the plotting head The structure of the printer is complicated, and as a result, the weight of the drawing head increases, making it impossible to control high-speed drawing. In addition, in an X-Y plotter that has a writing instrument stocker on the machine side and holds writing instruments in a plurality of pen holding parts of the stocker,
Since there is no mechanism for replenishing the writing instruments in the writing instrument stocker with leads, writing instruments that have run out of leads in the writing instrument stocker must be manually replaced with writing instruments that have leads, which is extremely inconvenient.

The present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned defects.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a writing instrument having a plurality of writing instrument holding parts on one body side for holding a writing instrument in which a consumable writing lead is placed inside the lead insertion hole. A stocker is provided, and writing instruments can be exchanged between a desired writing instrument holding section of the writing instrument stocker and a writing instrument holding section of a drawing head movable in a desired direction relative to the drawing surface. In the X-Y plotter, a lead supply device is provided on the writing instrument stocker side for inserting a writing lead into the writing instrument held in each writing instrument holding part of the writing instrument, and one lead supply device on the drawing head side is provided. A writing lead is supplied to the writing instrument on the stocker side while drawing on the drawing surface with the writing instrument.

[Effect]

In the configuration described above, while the drawing head is drawing on the drawing surface, the leadless writing instruments held in each writing instrument holding section of the writing instrument stocker are replenished with writing leads. Therefore, X
-The control section of the Y plotter.

Since the writing instruments on the writing instrument stocker side can be refilled with lead without interrupting drawing control, drawing time can be shortened.

[Embodiments] The configuration of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 18, reference numeral 2 denotes the body of a paper-driven X-Y plotter, and a Y-rail 6 is fixed horizontally on a paper mounting plate 4. As shown in FIG. Both sides of the paper 8 on the mounting plate 4 are supported by a pinch roller mechanism consisting of a drive roller and a presser roller arranged on both sides of the mounting plate 4, and by the rotation of the drive rollers driven by the X motor, The paper 8 on the mounting plate 4 is fed back and forth (+-X direction). Said Y rail 6
A drawing head 10 is attached to the drawing head 10 so as to be moved along the rail 6 by the drive of a Y motor. 12
is a writing instrument holding section provided in the drawing head 10, and the holding section 12 is linked to a pen lifting mechanism built into the drawing head 10. A box 14 is provided at one end of the Y-rail 6, and as shown in FIG. 1, a rotating writing instrument stocker 16 (carousel) is provided in the box 14. Stocker 16 is the 19th
As shown in the figure, it is linked to the output shaft of a motor 19 with a speed reducer that is fixed to the box 14. This motor is connected to a controller controlled by a computer. Writing instrument holders 18 are formed at regular intervals in the lower horizontal portion of the stocker 16 consisting of a pair of discs 16a and 16b, and each holder 18 holds a writing instrument P in a detachable manner. The writing instrument P is configured to be able to be automatically exchanged between a desired writing instrument P in the writing instrument holder 18 and the writing instrument holder 12 of the drawing head 10. Note that this configuration for automatic writing instrument exchange is well known and is not the gist of the present invention, so a detailed explanation thereof will be omitted. The writing instrument P has a lead insertion hole into which a consumable writing lead is received, and the upper end of the hole opens at the center of the upper end surface of the writing instrument P. The internal structure of the writing instrument P is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-13.
This is disclosed in detail in Japanese Patent No. 2394. A cylindrical core storage container 24 is fixedly installed in the upper horizontal part 16c of the stocker 16, located directly above each of the holding parts 18. writing lead 26
A core storage section 24a is formed for storing the core. Grooves are formed in the outer peripheries of the discs 16a and 16b of the stocker 16 to fit and hold the peripheral surfaces of the writing implements P, and a pen stopper 29 is fixedly located between the upper and lower grooves. 31 is a swinging arm, and the disks 16a and 16b
It is rotatably supported by a shaft and biased in one direction by a spring. Grooves in the discs 16a and 16b, pen stopper 2
5 and the swing arm 26 constitute the writing instrument holding section 18. The writing instrument P has disks 16a and 16b on its half circumference.
In this state, the rotating arm 26 comes into elastic contact with the side surface of the writing instrument P, and the upper end of the pen stopper 29 and the disk 16
The flange of the writing instrument P is removably fitted between the lower surface of a,
Due to these interactions, the writing instrument P is held in the holding portion 18 in a detachable manner. A hole is formed at the center of the bottom of the core storage container 24, and the upper end of the hole is connected to a tapered portion 24b for guiding the name formed at the bottom of the core storage portion 24a.
It opens in the center. A pipe-shaped core guide 28 is slidably inserted into a hole at the bottom of the core storage container 24 and a hole in a cylindrical body 27 fixed to the lower end of the core storage container 24. The lower surface of the flange formed on the core guide 28 is pressed against the cylindrical body 2 by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 3o.
It is in elastic contact with the bottom inner wall surface of 7.

The lower end portion of the core guide 28 protrudes from the lower surface of the cylindrical body 26 by a predetermined amount. Reference numeral 32 denotes a plate-shaped arm provided directly above each holding portion 28, and one end of this arm is rotatably supported by a shaft 34 on a disk portion 16d that is integral with the upper horizontal portion 16c. . The open end of the arm 32 has a recess 36, an inclined surface 38, a lower horizontal portion 40 adjacent to the inclined surface 38, and a protrusion 42 located below the lower horizontal portion 40, as shown in FIG. It is formed as shown in .

The arm 32 is moved 5 by the tensile force of the spring 44.
The lower horizontal portion 40 of the arm 32 is in elastic contact with a stopper 46 protruding from the disk portion 16d, and in this state, the lower horizontal portion 40 of the arm 32 is located on the lower end surface of the core guide 28 and closes the lower end opening of the core guide 28. ing. In this state, the core guide 2
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper end of 8 is set to be at the same level as the lowest bottom surface of the core storage section 24a or slightly lower than that. 48 is a residual lead holder attached to the stocker 16, and each of the writing instrument holding parts 1
It is located directly below 8. In FIG. 1, 50 is a bracket fixed to the bottom wall of the box 14, and a motor 52 with a speed reducer controlled by the controller is fixed to this bracket. Reference numeral 47 denotes a cylindrical cam, and the center portion of the top wall of this cam is fixed to the output shaft 54 of the motor 52. Reference numeral 56 denotes a plate-shaped lead arm, and a hole formed at one end of the lead arm is slidably inserted into the output shaft 54 . The arm 56 is located in an arm regulating groove 53 formed on the peripheral wall of the cam 47, and is caused by the elastic force of a coil spring 55 compressed and fitted into the output shaft 54 to cause the arm 56 to move against the top wall of the cam 47. It is pressed against the bottom surface. One end of the wall surface of the groove 53 at the same level as the lower surface of the ceiling wall,
The lower surface of the peripheral wall 47a between the other end of the wall surface of the groove 53 has a surface projecting slightly downward from the horizontal surface of the groove 53 at the starting end S.
An elevation control cam surface 57 is formed in which the amount of protrusion gradually increases and the amount of protrusion becomes maximum at the terminal end e. The protrusion 42 is located on the rotation locus of the arm 56, and a recess 58 is formed in the arm 56. 60 is a stopper fixed to the upper horizontal portion 16c adjacent to each core storage container 24; 62 is the bracket 4;
This is a stopper fixed to 2. the motor 52;
The cam 47, the stopper 62 and the arm 56 constitute a core supply actuating device, which together with the core storage container 24 and the arm 32
．． The lead guide 28 and the stopper 60 constitute an automatic lead feeder. 6 FIG. 20 shows a case where the writing instrument stocker 16 and the lead feed actuator are in the standard position. The actuating device is shown as NO, which is 90 degrees off from the drawing head 10.
It is located in the direction corresponding to 7. In Figure 20, No.
The position corresponding to 1 indicates the writing instrument exchange position, and the physical position corresponding to 71 No., 2 and No.
It is a dedicated location. Also, No. on stocker 16
, 6 and No. 8 are dedicated positions for a lead storage container 24 that stores writing leads with a diameter of 0.5 mm.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, initial settings of the writing instrument stocker 16 and the lead supply actuator will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, turn on the power to the controller and press the initial setting switch. After 1 second has elapsed (
In block 1), the motor 19 is driven, and the writing instrument 16 is rotated toward the reference position shown in FIG. Stocker 1
The reference position No. 6 is detected by a reference position detection sensor (block 2), and also detects whether a writing instrument P is held in each writing instrument holding part 18 of the stocker 16 (
Block 3). When the stocker 16 reaches the reference position shown in FIG. 20, the driving of the motor 19 is stopped, and the stocker 16 is positioned at this position (block 4).
. Next, the controller determines whether the stocker 16 is a writing implement stocker for a writing lead (pencil) or a different type of stocker (block 5). If the stocker 16 is not for a pencil, one drawing head 10
Block 6)
If the writing instrument is not held, repeat the initial setting operation; if it is held, move the writing instrument of the drawing head 1o to the writing instrument holding section 18 corresponding to the smaller empty number of the stocker 16.
(block 7) to complete the initialization process.

If the detected stocker 16 is a pencil stocker, the motor 52 is driven to move the arm 56 to the 20th position.
When the arm is driven in the direction shown in the figure (block 8), it is determined based on the sensor signal whether the arm is set in the direction of the reference position.

If the reference position of arm 56 is not detected, LEA
The D-ARM is displayed (block 10), and the motor 19
stops in a LOCAL state, that is, in a state cut off from the computer's CPU (block 11). If it is detected that the arm 56 is set to the reference position, it is determined whether or not the writing instrument P is held in the drawing head 10 (block 12), and if No, the initial setting process is completed a.
If it is Y a s, check the type of writing instrument being held (block 13), and then select the vacant writing instrument holding section 1 of the stocker 16 corresponding to the type of writing instrument.
At 8, the writing instrument is returned (block 14) to complete the initialization operation.

When the initial settings are completed as described above, a writing instrument exchange PC command is input to the controller (block 15) as shown in FIG. The writing instrument with a built-in writing lead is No. 6 in Figure 20.
When the stocker 16 reaches the position 1, the rotation of the stocker 16 is stopped (block 16).Next, the drawing head 10 moves along the rail 6 toward the pen stocker 16, and the writing instrument holder 12 of the drawing head 10 In FIG. 20, holding the writing instrument P at position N091 (block 17),
A drawing command is input from the computer to the controller (block 18). The controller determines whether or not the writing instrument P held by the writing instrument holder 12 is broken based on a lead breakage detection sensor (not shown) provided in the drawing head, and if not, based on the drawing command. Execute drawing operation. When the writing instrument P held by the writing instrument holder 12 of the drawing head 10 is out of lead, the controller determines whether the automatic lead supply device is in automatic lead supply operation or not (block 2).
1), if not, the drawing head 10 returns the held writing instrument P to the corresponding writing instrument holding section 18 of the stocker 16 (plot 22).

Next, the controller judges whether or not three or more consecutive lead breaks occur (block 23). If not, the controller judges whether the writing instrument P of the same type as the writing instrument P returned by the drawing head 10 is located at the head position, that is, as shown in FIG. , No., rotate the stocker 16 until it comes to the 1 position. Furthermore, the judgment block 23
If YES is determined, the controller recognizes an error in the X-Y plotter and stops the X-Y plotter (
Block 25). When the rotation control of the stocker 16 in block 24 is completed, the drawing head 10 holds the writing instrument P held in the stocker 16 at the position NO, 1 in FIG. Return to drawing operation. In parallel with this drawing operation, an automatic core feeding operation (block 27) is performed.

Next, the automatic core feeding operation will be explained with reference to FIG. 23.

In response to instructions from the computer, the controller selects the broken writing instrument P returned from the drawing head 10 as N in FIG.
The rotation of the stocker 16 is stopped when it has gone slightly beyond the predetermined core feeding position indicated by o and 7 (block 28).
1st, the stocker 16 is rotated in the opposite direction, and when the broken writing instrument is located at the core supply position, the reverse rotation of the stocker 16 is stopped (block 29). 1st, the controller drives the motor 52, The arm 56 is rotated 2 degrees clockwise by 178° in FIG. 1 from the initial state shown in FIG. Collision with 42. This collision causes the arm 32 to move against the spring 4.
Against the elasticity of 4.

The rotational force of the arm 56 causes it to swing counterclockwise about the shaft 34 in FIG. 4A. As the arm 32 swings, the core guide 28 rides on the inclined surface 38 of the arm 32, as shown in the opening of FIG. The upper end of the core storage portion 24a protrudes from the bottom surface of the core storage portion 24a by a predetermined length.

Thereby, one core 26 in the core guide 28 is completely separated from the other plurality of cores 26 in the core storage section 24a.

Next, the controller drives the motor 52 and the arm 5
6 is swung counterclockwise by 1.8 degrees as shown in FIG. 5 (block 31). This swinging causes the core guide 28
The lower end of is moved to the lower horizontal portion 40 of the arm 32, and the core guide 28 is lowered.

Next, the controller rotates the arm 56 by 1.8 degrees clockwise (block 32), as shown in FIG.
The core guide 28 rises. This lowering and raising is repeated an arbitrary N number of times to vibrate the core guide 28. When the core guide vibration operation is completed N times, the arm 56 is swung clockwise by 1.8 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 4 as shown in FIG. 6 (block 33). In this state, the shaft hole or insertion hole of the core guide 28 matches the recesses 36 and 58 of the arms 32 and 56, as shown in FIG. 6, and the core 26 in the core guide 28 falls downward. Then, it is inserted into the hole of the writing instrument P directly below the lead guide 28. After 2 seconds (block 34), the controller drives the motor 52 to rotate the cam 47 by 540 degrees clockwise in FIG. 6 (block 35).During this rotation, the arm 56 first As shown in FIG. 13, it collides with the stopper 30. Next, the arm 56 is removed from the arm regulating groove 53 of the cam 47, and the arm 56 is guided by the elevation control cam surface 57 of the cam 47 to descend vertically as shown in FIG.
9 and 15. When the arm 56 has completed pushing the lead into the writing instrument P, the remaining lead 26' of the writing instrument P is pushed out from the writing instrument P. As shown, arm 56 is disengaged from stopper 60. As a result, the arm 56 is connected to the cam 4.
7, the arm 56 moves clockwise in conjunction with the cam 47 as shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, it is locked to a stopper 62 on the motor side. Next, only the cam 47 rotates clockwise, and the arm 56
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 17, the cam surface 57 deviates from its maximum protruding position due to the elastic force of the coil spring 55.

The arm 56 returns to the upper position, and the arm 56 engages the arm regulating groove 53 of the cam 47.
The motor 52 stops rotating when the primary arm 56, which is fitted into the primary arm 56, reaches the initial state shown in FIG. Next, the controller rotates the stocker 16 and selects an empty writing instrument holder 18 from among the plurality of writing instrument holders 18 of the stocker 16 to which the writing instrument P currently held by the drawing head 1o is to be returned to the drawing head. 10th to face 10
Move to position No. 1 in the figure (block 36)
, Incidentally, the lead 26 in the writing instrument storage section 24a is -
The book is guided by the tapered surface 24b and automatically inserted into the lead guide 28 in the lowered state.

〔effect〕

As described above, in the present invention, the core is fed to the writing instrument on the stocker side during drawing, so the drawing can be carried out without interrupting the drawing work, and drawing can be done efficiently. There are effects that can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 is a plan view, Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram, Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram, and Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram.
The figure is a side view, Figure 8 is a side view, Figure 9 is a side view, Figure 10 is a side view.
The figure is a side view, Fig. 11 is a side view, Fig. 12 is a plan view, Fig. 13 is a plan view, Fig. 14 is a plan view, Fig. 15 is a plan view, Fig. 16 is a plan view, Fig. 17 is a plan view, Fig. 18 is an external view, Fig. 19 is a front view, Fig. 20 is an explanatory drawing, Fig. 21 is a flowchart, Fig. 22 is a flowchart, Fig. 23
The figure is a flowchart. 2...Machine body, 4...Paper placement plate, 6...
・Y rail, 8...paper, 10...drawing head. 12... Writing instrument holding part, 14... Box. 16... Stocker, 18... Writing instrument holding part. 24... Core storage container, 24a... Core storage section. 26...Writing lead, 27...Cylinder body, 28...
・・Core guide, 30・・・Coil spring, 32・
... Arm, 34 ... Axis, 36 ... Recessed part, 38 ... Inclined surface, 40 ... Low level horizontal part, 42 ... Protrusion, 44 ... spring,
46,60.62...stopper, 48...
...Remaining core holder, 50...Bracket, 52
...Motor, 54...Output shaft, 56...
...Rotating arm, 58...Recessed part. 60...Box Patent Applicant Muto Kogyo Co., Ltd. Representative Patent Attorney Aya Nishijima Figure 1 Figure 2 36 Figure 7 Figure 12 Figure 132 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16! Figure 17 2 Figure 1s Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 23

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A writing instrument stocker having a plurality of writing instrument holding parts for holding a writing instrument with a consumable writing lead placed inside the lead insertion hole is provided on the body side, and a desired writing instrument holding part of the writing instrument stocker, In an X-Y plotter in which a writing instrument can be exchanged with a writing instrument holder of a drawing head that is movable in a desired direction relative to the drawing surface, on the writing instrument stocker side, A lead supply device is provided for inserting a writing lead into the writing instrument held in each writing instrument holding part of the writing instrument, and while drawing on the drawing surface with one writing instrument on the drawing head side, the writing lead on the stocker side is provided. A lead replenishment method characterized by supplying a writing lead to a writing instrument.