JPH04237305A - Method for forming nc data for thick film circuit plotting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the automation rate of forming processing of NC data for a thick film circuit plotting device, to reduce worker's burden and to shorten the processing time of the whole data forming process. CONSTITUTION:An NC data forming process is automated by characterizing it by the shown 2nd process for checking the turning directions of respective vertexes of the tangents of respective sides of a closed graphic formed by segments, circular arc curves expanded to the outside, or both of them as sides by starting the check from an optional vertex of the closed graphic, successively circulating respective vertexes along the outline of a circuit pattern constituted of the closed graphic, determining a vertex whose turning direction is inverted as a dividing point, dividing the closed graphic into a projected graphics by a straight line connecting the dividing point to the initial start vertex, restarting the check by determining the dividing point as the succeeding start point, finding out the succeeding dividing point, dividing the graphic into projected graphics, repeating the dividing operation up to return to the initial start point.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for creating NC data for operating a thick film circuit forming apparatus constituting an electronic circuit or the like.

0002

[Prior Art] Fig. 13 shows the main parts of a thick film circuit drawing device (hereinafter simply referred to as a drawing device) for drawing circuit patterns.
Shown below. The main parts are the substrate 19 that is the object of drawing, the drawing nozzle 21 that discharges the paste 20 onto the substrate 19, and the substrate 1.
9 and moves the substrate 19 in order to draw on the substrate 19 along a predetermined drawing trajectory with the drawing nozzle 21. In order to create NC data for drawing, it is necessary to create a trajectory for drawing by filling in the graphic area of the target circuit pattern.
In order to create a circuit pattern, adjacent drawing trajectories within a region must be overlapped to the necessary extent to ensure that there are no gaps. However, on the other hand, since the thickness of the thick film circuit after drawing must be constant, the trajectory to be drawn must be made so that the overlapping portions are as uniform as possible.

An example of this is shown in FIG. Fig. 14 shows that when filling a certain range with parallel drawing trajectories J, drawing trajectories are created at regular intervals smaller than the application width so that the application widths K of adjacent drawing trajectories always overlap by a certain amount, and the overlapping part L
are made to be equal. As a result, cross-sectional view A-
As seen in A, the film maintains a nearly constant thickness.

[0004] After taking into consideration such construction method conditions,
Furthermore, when creating a drawing trajectory, there is a condition unique to the drawing device that the drawing trajectory must be written in one stroke in order to shorten the drawing time during drawing and eliminate the paste button from the nozzle at the end point of the drawing trajectory. NC in this case
Conventionally, the data creation method is N
It was created using a C data creation device. Hereinafter, a method of creating NC data using this conventional NC data creation device for a drawing device will be described.

FIG. 2 shows the basic configuration of an NC data creation device for a drawing device. In FIG. 2, circuit pattern data is input from a board circuit pattern input device 1, and the pattern is displayed on a display 3 through a processing controller 2. A simple movement input device 4 such as a mouse is attached so that various instructions can be given to any graphic shape displayed on the display 3. Conventional drawing device N using such an NC data creation device for drawing device
A method for creating C data is shown in FIG. That is, in the first step, circuit pattern data to be drawn is first input. Next, in the second step, the input circuit pattern figure is displayed on the display 3, and the operator looks at the screen and draws each partial area of the target figure into a rectangle while taking into consideration the drawing locus creation conditions specific to the drawing device. , into basic shapes such as circles and polygons. Since circuit patterns are usually created with straight lines or arcuate curves that bulge out to the outside of the circuit pattern, it is quite possible to divide the circuit patterns using these basic shapes. It is suitable for the next third step that these basic figures are figures in which a line segment connecting any two points inside the figure does not pass through the outside of the figure. Then, in the third step, a drawing trajectory is automatically created for each of these basic shapes. If there is a circuit pattern in the basic figure that cannot be divided, manually create a drawing trajectory. Finally, the drawing trajectory created in the fourth step is converted into NC data for the drawing device.

[0006]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above method, the operator manually divides the drawing target into a group of more optimal basic figures based on the figure on the display screen of the circuit pattern to be drawn. This makes data creation difficult and takes a long time. Another problem is that there is a limit to the reduction in NC data work time as long as the operator gives instructions. The present invention aims to solve these problems.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, a method for creating NC data for a drawing device according to the present invention includes line segments,
In the NC data creation method for a thick film circuit drawing device, the method for creating NC data for a thick film circuit drawing device fills in the inside of the outline line of a thick film circuit pattern constituted by a closed figure whose sides are an arcuate curve bulging outward, or both of these as sides, with a drawing trajectory. a first step of inputting data as the outline of the circuit pattern to be drawn, starting from an arbitrary vertex of the closed figure and sequentially going around each vertex along the outline of the circuit pattern to be drawn; The direction of rotation at each vertex of the tangent to each side of the closed figure is sequentially examined, and the vertex where the rotation direction is reversed is set as a dividing point, and the closed figure is convexed by a straight line connecting this dividing point and the first starting vertex. dividing into convex figures, and re-starting from the dividing point as the next starting point to find the next dividing point and dividing into convex figures,
A second step of repeating this division operation until returning to the initial starting point, a third step of creating a drawing locus for filling in each divided convex figure, and a third step of creating a drawing locus for filling in the convex figure for each divided convex figure, and a third step of creating a drawing locus for filling in the convex figure for each divided convex figure, and a third step of The drawing device is characterized by comprising a fourth step of converting the circuit pattern into an NC data format used for filling in the drawing trajectory, or a plurality of closed lines whose sides are line segments, outwardly expanding arcuate curves, or both of these. In an NC data creation method for a thick film circuit drawing device in which the inside of the outline of a thick film circuit pattern formed by superimposing a figure and a strip figure whose outline is a parallel line is filled with a drawing locus, each closed figure is The first step is to input the data obtained by superimposing the outer lines of each of the strip shapes as a circuit pattern to be drawn, and to unify the closed shapes that overlap inside the input circuit pattern to be drawn. A second step of forming an outline of a circuit pattern to be drawn by integrating it into one closed figure, and an outline of the band-shaped figure that overlaps with the outline of the integrated closed figure, A third step of deleting this overlapping part leaving a certain length, and starting from an arbitrary vertex of this closed shape and going around each vertex in order along the outline of the integrated closed shape, the closed shape is The closed figure is divided into convex figures by a straight line connecting this dividing point and the first starting vertex by sequentially examining the rotation direction at the vertex of the tangent line of each side and using the vertex where the rotation direction is reversed as the dividing point. Then, by restarting from the dividing point as the next starting point, the next dividing point is found and divided into convex shapes, and this dividing operation is repeated until returning to the first starting point. a fourth step of setting the sides after division so that the shape figures overlap each other by a certain range on the dividing boundary line; The fifth step is to create drawing trajectories that fill the inside of the figure, and these drawing trajectories.
The thick film circuit drawing apparatus is characterized by comprising a sixth step of converting the circuit pattern into NC data creation used to fill in the drawing locus.

[0008]

[Operation] The invention as set forth in claim 1 provides a method in which, in the second step, when the thick film circuit pattern to be drawn is a closed figure whose sides are a line segment, an outwardly bulging arc curve, or both of these, Starting from an arbitrary vertex of the closed figure, go around each vertex in turn, sequentially check the rotation direction of the tangent to each side of the closed figure at each vertex, and set the vertex where the rotation direction is reversed as a dividing point. The closed figure is divided into convex figures by a straight line connecting the first starting vertex, and the next dividing point is found by starting again from the dividing point as the next starting point and dividing it into convex figures. By repeating this division operation until returning to the initial starting point, the closed figure to be drawn is divided into line segments, outwardly bulging arc curves, or convex figures having sides of both of these. shall be.

[0009] This second process is suitable for automation because it involves repeating a fixed and simple operation, and also because the line segment connecting any two points inside the divided convex figure does not pass through the outside of the figure. , it is suitable for automatically filling in these convex figures with the drawing locus in the third step.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to improve the automation rate of the entire NC data creation process while satisfying the conditions specific to the drawing apparatus.

[0011] In the invention as set forth in claim 2, the thick film circuit pattern to be drawn is a closed figure whose sides are line segments, arcuate curves bulging outward, or both of these as sides, and a band-like figure whose outline is parallel lines. In the second step, these closed figures are integrated into one closed figure, and in the third step, the integrated closed figure and the band-shaped figure whose outline line is the parallel line are integrated. After deleting the overlapping parts and dividing the integrated one closed figure into convex figures in a fourth step in the same manner as in the second step of claim 1, the convex shapes after the division are further divided. The sides after division are set so that the shapes overlap each other by a certain range on the dividing boundary line, and in the fifth step, the divided convex figures and the band-like figures that are divided and overlap each other on the boundary line are separated. It is characterized by creating a drawing trajectory that fills the inside of the figure.

Therefore, according to the invention as claimed in claim 2, strip-like figures of arbitrary shapes can be processed, so that it can be applied to a wider range of circuit patterns than the invention as claimed in claim 1. Also, since the divided convex shapes overlap each other within a certain range on the boundary line,
This satisfies the conditions specific to the drawing apparatus even better than the invention of claim 1. And when it comes to ease of automation,
As with the invention of claim 1, there is no problem because the simple work is repeated.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the method for creating NC data for a drawing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data creation device used in the NC data creation method, which is the same as the conventional example.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of the NC data creation method of the present invention for the apparatus configured as described above.

In the first step, the board circuit pattern input device 1 inputs circuit pattern data to the processing controller 2.
is input.

In the second step, the circuit pattern input on the display 3 is automatically divided into line segments, outwardly expanding arcuate curves, or convex figures whose outlines are both of these. In these convex figures, a line segment connecting any two points within the figure does not pass outside the figure, so the inside of the figure can be completely filled in with one stroke using parallel drawing trajectories.

In the third step, a single stroke drawing locus is automatically created for each of these convex figures to uniformly and completely fill the inside of the figure.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, it is also possible for the operator to check the processing results on the display 3 and make manual corrections after the second and third steps are performed automatically.

In the fourth step, the aforementioned drawing locus is automatically converted into an NC data format used by the thick film circuit drawing apparatus to fill in the circuit pattern with the drawing locus.

[0021] Below, in the case where the thick film circuit pattern to be drawn is composed of a line segment, an outwardly bulging arc curve, or a closed figure whose sides are both of these, the second and third steps will be explained. Explain details.

FIGS. 3 to 7 are flowcharts of an embodiment of the figure dividing method according to the present invention.

In FIGS. 3 to 7, the point str is the vertex that starts the logic that considers the division of the entire figure, the point j is the vertex that starts the current division consideration, and the point opp is the vertex that starts the logic that considers division of the entire figure.The point opp is the vertex that starts the logic that considers division of the entire figure. It is the apex of the object to be judged. If it is determined to be a dividing point, a straight line is drawn from the vertex determined to be the dividing point to point j, and the shape is divided into convex shapes by this straight line. After the division, point j moves to the division apex, and point opp moves to point j again while sequentially determining whether or not to divide. When considering this division,
Since the contents of the division change depending on the position of the first vertex, the point str is moved to all vertices on the figure in order to perform the same operation. Note that the circuit pattern to be drawn is a closed figure whose sides are line segments or arcuate curves that bulge out toward the outside, if the pattern includes arcuate curves that bulge out toward the inside of the pattern. This is because it cannot be divided into a group of convex figures in this case. Therefore, such patterns are excluded from automatic division targets in advance. In actual electronic circuit design, there are very few patterns designed with such a shape.

Using the example of FIG. 8, the processing flow of FIGS. 3 to 7 will be explained in more detail. FIG. 8(a) shows an example of a circuit pattern. FIG. 8(b) shows the tangential direction of each side at each vertex of the circuit pattern. The desired convex figure is one in which the tangent direction of each vertex rotates from the tangent direction at the starting point in the order of the vertices (counterclockwise in Figure 8), and if the tangent direction is If it turns in the opposite direction or goes beyond the tangential direction of the starting point, it can be said that it is not a convex figure. In FIG. 8(b), the fact that the tangential direction is convex indicates that such conditions are satisfied. The pattern in FIG. 8 is divided sequentially according to the processes in FIGS. 3 to 7, with the vertex (A) as the point str in FIGS. 3 to 7.

First, vertex (A) becomes point j, and point opp moves sequentially from vertex (B), but at vertex (E), the tangential direction rotates in the opposite direction to that of vertex (C). Therefore, a dividing line is drawn from the vertex (D) to the vertex (A) in step N of FIG. 4 to divide the pattern into convex shapes. If the same process is continued again using the vertex (E) as the starting point, the next division will occur at the vertex (E), and the final result will be as shown in FIG. 8(d). If the point str, which is the first starting point, is set to (B) instead of (A), the division result will be as shown in FIG. 8(e). Similarly, if the starting point is set to (d), the division result will be as shown in FIG. 8(f). After several division methods are obtained in this way, the optimal division method is selected from among them. Normally, when the number of divisions is large, the amount of NC data increases, and the amount of overlapping drawing changes due to connections with other divided regions, making it difficult to obtain a uniformly thick film. Further, if the divided area is too small, drawing may not be possible due to reasons such as being narrower than the width of the drawing nozzle. Taking these conditions into consideration, for example, in the case of FIG. 8, it is preferable to select the division shown in FIG. 8(f), which has no extremely small area and has the smallest number of divisions.

In the convex figure created in this way, a line segment connecting any two points inside the figure does not pass through the outside of the figure, so it is possible to create a drawing locus for drawing the inside with a single stroke. At this time, several methods can be considered, but in order to shorten the drawing tact as much as possible, it is better to reduce the number of vertices of the drawing trajectory as much as possible. Therefore, after drawing the outer part once using the starting point as the starting point of one vertex of the longest side of the outer outline excluding the arc, create the inner part by filling in the inside parallel to the straight line connecting the starting vertex and the other vertex of this side. . Figure 9
An example of this is shown in (a). If all the outline lines are arcs, create a spiral drawing trajectory. An example of this is shown in FIG. 9(b). As described above, according to this embodiment, circuit pattern data consisting of line segments or arcuate curves expanding outward from the pattern is automatically divided, and each divided figure is drawn in consideration of conditions specific to the drawing device. Trajectories can be created automatically.

When dividing a pattern as described above, when actually drawing, it is preferable to draw the drawing areas slightly overlapping each other so that the patterns are not separated on the dividing line of the pattern.

Furthermore, when data actually designed using printed circuit board CAD or the like is used, there is a band-shaped figure whose outline is made of parallel lines of the same width as shown in FIG. 10, and this is different from the circuit pattern figure mentioned above. can be distinguished. Since such strip shapes have the same width, instead of dividing them into a group of convex shapes as described above, if the drawing locus is created as a line parallel to the center line of the strip shape as shown in Figure 10(b), You can create a drawing trajectory more easily. A second embodiment that takes such conditions into account will be described with reference to FIGS. 11(a) to 11(f).

First, a circuit pattern to be drawn is usually expressed as a collection of movement trajectories of circular or rectangular unit figures called apertures. An example is shown in FIG. 11(a). In FIG. 11(a), 11 is an aperture, and 12 is a movement locus of the aperture. From this shape,
Divide the movement trajectory into closed and open trajectories. At this time, the open trajectory forms a band-shaped figure 13 whose outline is parallel lines of the same width. The closed locus forms an outline 14 of a general figure consisting of a line segment or an outwardly bulging arc curve. The results are shown in FIG. 11(b). However, since an open locus that is completely contained within the closed locus usually overlaps with a locus that fills the interior of a general figure created by the closed locus, such open loci are deleted.

Next, among the created general figures, overlapping figures are integrated into one figure 15. However, the band-shaped figure 13 of the same width created as an open locus is not related to this process. The results are shown in FIG. 11(c).

Next, the band-shaped figure 13 created by the open locus that overlaps the integrated general figure is deleted, leaving a certain length of the overlapping part. The results are shown in FIG. 11(d). Here, the constant length to be left can be determined appropriately by considering the drawing width at the time of drawing. Then, the integrated general figure 15 is divided into convex figures by the method described above. The results are shown in FIG. 11(e). However, as shown in FIG. 11(e), there is no overlap on the boundary lines, so the boundary lines are moved as follows. That is, in each figure divided by a boundary line, the boundary line is translated by a certain distance toward the other figure. Then, the two sides forming the end point of the boundary line are extended in the tangential direction to form a new end point. If the extension direction is outside the range of the original drawing area, it is sufficient to create a boundary line up to the intersection with the outline of the original drawing area. FIG. 12 shows the processing of the dividing line 16 in FIG. 11(e). Graphic area (a
) side, move the border line 16 as shown in 17,
On the area (b) side, the boundary line 16 is moved as shown in 18. That is, the new areas are the figures ABCD and EFGHI in FIG.

Finally, for the general figure, a drawing locus may be created for each divided pattern figure in the group of figures shown in FIG. 11(f) using the method described above. On the other hand, for strip-shaped figures having the same width, parallel lines may be created based on the drawing width with the movement locus of the aperture as the center, and both ends of these lines may be sequentially connected to form the drawing locus.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when dividing a pattern, it is possible to draw the drawing areas slightly overlapping each other so that the patterns are not separated on the pattern dividing line, and it is also possible to actually draw the printed circuit board CAD. By using the data designed by etc., the drawing locus is created as a line parallel to the center line of the strip shape, instead of dividing the shape that is created as a strip shape with the same width into a group of convex shapes. You can create drawing trajectories more efficiently.

Once the drawing trajectories are created, these drawing trajectories can be
The thick film circuit drawing device automatically converts the circuit pattern into the NC data format used to fill in the drawing locus.

[0035]

As described above, the present invention is capable of drawing a circuit pattern using a closed figure whose sides are a line segment, an outwardly bulging arc curve, or both of them, which constitutes the majority of the circuit pattern to be drawn. Regarding a thick film circuit pattern formed by superimposing a strip shape whose outline is a parallel line, the closed shape can be divided into convex shapes by the above-mentioned simple rule, and these convex shapes can be divided into convex shapes. Since a straight line connecting any two points inside the figure does not pass through the outside of the figure, the circuit pattern is automatically divided into convex figures, and these convex figures and the band-shaped figure are automatically filled in with a drawing locus drawn with a single stroke. can do things easily.

[0036] As a result, the present invention reduces the work time and burden on the worker, compared to the conventional technology in which circuit pattern division could not be automated.
The processing automation rate of the entire data creation process can be improved, and the processing time of the entire data creation process can be shortened.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the NC data creation method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data creation device that uses the NC data creation method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of figure division in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for creating a drawing trajectory in the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for creating a drawing locus of a band-like figure in the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the convex divided area of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 shows the main parts of the drawing device.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of drawing conditions.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a conventional NC data creation method for a drawing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 Circuit pattern center line 7 Circuit pattern outline 8 Drawing trajectory 11 Aperture 16 Area dividing line

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An NC for a thick film circuit drawing device that fills in the inside of the outline of a thick film circuit pattern formed by a line segment, an outwardly bulging arc curve, or a closed figure whose sides are both of these with a drawing locus. In the data creation method, a first step of inputting the data of the closed figure as the outline of the circuit pattern to be drawn, and starting from an arbitrary vertex of the closed figure along the outline of the circuit pattern to be drawn. , go around each vertex in turn, sequentially check the rotation direction of the tangent to each side of the closed figure at each vertex, set the vertex where the rotation direction is reversed as a dividing point, and connect this dividing point to the first vertex from which it started. Divide the closed figure into convex figures by a straight line, and then restart from the dividing point as the next starting point to find the next dividing point and divide it into convex figures until returning to the first starting point. A second step of repeating this dividing operation, a third step of creating a drawing locus for filling in the convex figure for each divided convex figure, and a thick film circuit drawing device draws a circuit pattern using these drawing trajectories. A method for creating NC data for a thick film circuit drawing device, comprising a fourth step of converting into an NC data format used for filling in with a locus. 2. An outline of a thick film circuit pattern formed by superimposing a plurality of closed figures whose sides are line segments, outwardly bulging arcuate curves, or both of these, and a strip figure whose outline is parallel lines. In an NC data creation method for a thick film circuit drawing device that fills the inside with a drawing locus, the first step is to input data obtained by superimposing the outer lines of each closed figure and each strip figure as a circuit pattern to be drawn. and a second step of integrating the overlapping closed figures inside the input circuit pattern to be drawn into one closed figure to form the outline of the circuit pattern to be drawn; a third step of deleting the overlapping portion of the band shape that overlaps the contour of the closed shape with a certain length left, and the contour of the integrated closed shape; Start from an arbitrary vertex of this closed figure and go around each vertex in turn along The closed figure is divided into convex figures by a straight line connecting the dividing point and the first starting vertex, and the next dividing point is found by starting again from the dividing point as the next starting point, and the convex figure is created. A fourth step is to repeat this dividing operation until returning to the initial starting point, and then set the edges after the division so that the convex figures after the division overlap each other by a certain range on the dividing boundary line. ,
a fifth step of creating a drawing locus for filling the inside of each of the divided convex figures and the band-shaped figures that overlap each other on the boundary line; and a thick film circuit drawing device converting these drawing trajectories into a circuit pattern. NC used to fill with drawing locus
A method for creating NC data for a thick film circuit drawing apparatus, characterized by comprising a sixth step of converting into a data format.