JPH04365000A - Plotter control method and plotter device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve picture drawing efficiency and shorten time for drawing picture by reducing effectively pen-up moving quantity when a plurality of data whose endpoints coincide is included in a plurality of data to be drawn. CONSTITUTION:An endpoint as a next picture drawing starting point is selected at a sorting processor 12 and the data is transferred to a picture drawing controller 13 from a buffer 11. The sorting processor 12 comprises a moving quantity calculator 15 and an endpoint selector 16. The moving quantity calculator 15 comprises a coincidence detector 17 for detecting coincidence of endpoints of data and a moving quantity calculator 18 for obtaining pen-up moving quantity up to both ends if there is no endpoint coinciding with both ends of a next data and for obtaining pen-up moving quantity up to both ends of the series of data if other un-drawn endpoints coincide with both ends. If only one endpoint of the data coincides with the other un-drawn endpoint, the endpoint selector 16 selects the other endpoint of that data. If not, an endpoint having smaller pen-up quantity is selected from the both ends of one data or the series of data.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plotter such as a pen plotter, and more particularly to a plotter control method and plotter device that can improve the efficiency of pen operation control processing.

0002

[Prior Art] Generally, in a pen plotter, drawing data sent from a host computer is
The data is analyzed by a drawing data analysis section constituted by a PU (central processing unit), converted into drawing vector data corresponding to the movement of the pen, and provided to a drawing control section constituted by, for example, a lower CPU. This drawing control section performs actual pen XY movement processing and pen up/down processing based on the vector data.

When considering the movement of a pen along one straight line, the processing time of the drawing data analysis section is approximately constant at, for example, several milliseconds, regardless of the length of the line segment, whereas the processing time of the drawing control section is is until the pen actually finishes moving, and
The time required varies depending on the content of the drawing data, for example, from several milliseconds to one second. Therefore, except for special cases where a large number of extremely short line segments are consecutive, the data processing time of the drawing data analysis section is sufficiently shorter than the pen movement processing time of the drawing control section.

Therefore, the drawing vector data converted by the drawing data analysis section fills the buffer of the drawing control section.
When the drawing control section no longer requests data from the drawing data analysis section, the drawing data analysis section stops analyzing the data and waits until the buffer of the drawing control section becomes free. In other words, the data analysis processing speed of the drawing data analysis section is substantially limited by the actual pen movement speed accompanying the operation of the drawing control section.

[0005] On the other hand, the limitations imposed by the actual pen movement speed are relaxed, the analyzed data is stored in a buffer provided in the drawing data analysis section, and the analysis is performed in accordance with the timing of the data request from the drawing control section. It has been considered to send the most suitable data out of the completed data to the drawing control unit.

[0006] Here, if the drawing data analysis section performs ordering to obtain the optimal data from the analyzed data through all the drawing data, the most efficient drawing should be possible. In order to do this, it is necessary to analyze all drawing data. In this case, not only will the plotter stop while the processing is being performed (for example, for several seconds to several minutes), but the amount of analyzed data will be enormous, and a significantly large amount of memory will be required. Not on point.

[0007]Therefore, as methods that have been used or considered in the past, there are a method using bidirectional plotting and a method using nearest point selection. These methods will be explained next.

(1) Bidirectional plot When processing vector data indicating drawn line segments obtained by analyzing given drawing data in the given order, one of the two endpoints of the vector data of the next line segment is selected. Select an endpoint close to the current position (the reference position that is the starting point of the process) and draw from that endpoint.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, if vector data L1 to L5 of line segments are given sequentially, the vector data L1 to L5 are sequentially drawn in the given order. At this time, the current position CP at the time when the vector data L1 is drawn from the end point L1a to the end point L1b is the end point L1b, and when drawing the next vector data L2, the current position CP of the end points L2a and L2b (that is, L1b ) is selected, and vector data L2 is drawn starting from the end point L2b. Regarding the next vector data L3, from the end point L3a that is closer to the end point L2a of the vector data L2 to the end point L3
drawn towards b. Similarly, the nearest end point of the line segment indicated by the next vector data is sequentially selected, and the vector data L4 and L5 are drawn in the given order.

(2) Nearest Point Selection Among the end points of a predetermined number of unprocessed vector data, the end point closest to the current position is sequentially selected. That is,
Not only vector data of one line segment but also vector data of a predetermined number of line segments, starting from the end point closest to the current position among both end points, and giving priority to drawing the vector data including that end point.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, focusing on both end points of a predetermined number (four in this case) of vector data L1 to L4 among the unprocessed vector data, starting point is the end point L4a closest to the current position. , vector data L4 including the end point L4a is drawn with priority. When selecting data to be drawn next to vector data L4, new vector data is added to the remaining vector data L1 to L3, and the current position at that point, that is, the current position of vector data L4 is selected from both end points of those vector data. End point L
Select the endpoint closest to 4b.

0012

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Here, for example, FIG.
As shown in , vector data L1 to L3 are sequentially given, the end points of vector data L1 are a and b, the end points of vector data L2 are c and d, and one end point of vector data L3 is one end point of vector data L1. end point b
, and the other end point of vector data L3 is e.

[0013] In the method using the bidirectional plot described above,
When drawing such vector data L1 to L3,
For example, even if vector data L1 is drawn with end point a as the starting point and end point b as the end point, vector data L2 is then drawn with end point c as the starting point and end point d without drawing vector data L3. After drawing the vector data L2, vector data L3 is drawn starting from the end point e and ending at the end point b.

Therefore, in this method, although one end of the vector data L1 coincides with one end of the vector data L3, when drawing, the vector data L1 and the vector data L3 are drawn during drawing. This will involve drawing data L2. For this reason, the amount of pen-up movement and the number of times the vector end point is positioned during drawing are large, and the efficiency of pen movement is low.

Furthermore, in the method using the nearest point selection described above, when drawing the vector data L1 to L3 as shown in FIG. The pen movement is temporarily stopped at point b, and even though one end point of vector data L3 coincides with end point b, end point b is set as the current position and is the closest end point among the other undrawn vector data end points. Perform a sort operation to find the .

Therefore, even if there is vector data whose end point coincides with a plurality of vector data to be drawn, the sorting operation is repeated each time each vector data is drawn.

By the way, if, for example, the end points of two of the plurality of vector data to be drawn match, it is better to draw the two vector data as a series of data than to draw these two vector data separately. If you draw continuously as , the amount of pen-up movement is smaller,
High drawing efficiency should be obtained. However, in the two methods described above, even when multiple vector data with matching endpoints are included, these multiple vector data with matching endpoints are drawn separately, or each vector data is sorted each time. It was not possible to draw efficiently because it was performing calculations.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and effectively reduces the amount of pen-up movement when a plurality of vector data to be drawn includes a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide. However, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plotter control method and a plotter device that can improve drawing efficiency and contribute to shortening drawing time.

[0019]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A first plotter control method according to the present invention temporarily stores drawing vector data based on plotting data given sequentially in a buffer means, and based on the vector data stored in the buffer means. In the plotter control method for sequentially drawing vector data by selecting vector endpoints to be drawn next using the buffer means, a plurality of vector data having matching endpoints are detected from undrawn vector data stored in the buffer means. In the continuous vector detection step, if multiple vector data whose end points match are detected in this continuous vector detection step, these multiple vector data are treated as a series of vector data, and the unrecorded data containing the series of vector data is The present invention is characterized by comprising an end point selection step of selecting a vector end point to be drawn next from drawing vector data.

A second plotter control method according to the present invention includes:
A plotter that temporarily stores drawing vector data based on plotting data given sequentially in a buffer means, selects a vector end point to be drawn next based on the vector data stored in this buffer means, and sequentially draws the vector data. In the control method, a continuous vector detection step detects a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide from undrawn vector data stored in the buffer means, and a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide in this continuous vector detection step. If detected, a vector combination step is performed to combine the plurality of vector data as a series of vector data, and each end point of the undrawn vector data including the series of vector data combined in this vector combination step is The present invention is characterized by comprising a movement amount calculation step for calculating a pen-up movement amount related to an end point, and an end point selection step for selecting a vector end point to be drawn next based on the calculation result of this movement amount calculation step.

A first plotter device according to the present invention includes a buffer means for storing drawing vector data based on plotting data given sequentially, and a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide with each other from undrawn vector data stored in the buffer means. When a continuous vector detection means detects vector data and a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide are detected by this continuous vector detection means, the plurality of vector data are treated as a series of vector data, and the series of vector data is The present invention is characterized by comprising an end point selection means for selecting a vector end point to be drawn next from undrawn vector data including vector data.

A second plotter device according to the present invention includes a buffer means for storing drawing vector data based on plotting data given sequentially, and a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide with each other from undrawn vector data stored in the buffer means. continuous vector detection means for detecting vector data; and vector combination means for combining the plurality of vector data as a series of vector data when the continuous vector detection means detects a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide with each other. , a movement amount calculation means for calculating the movement amount in the pen-up state related to each end point of the undrawn vector data including the series of vector data combined by the vector combination means, and this movement amount calculation means. The present invention is characterized by comprising an end point selection means for selecting a vector end point to be drawn next based on the calculation result of the means.

[0023]

[Operation] In the plotter control method and plotter device of the present invention, when a plurality of vector data to be plotted includes a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide with each other,
Since these multiple vector data are drawn continuously as a series of data, the amount of pen-up movement is effectively reduced when multiple vector data with matching end points are included in the multiple vector data to be drawn. Improve drawing efficiency.

[0024]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the main parts of a plotter device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is an application of the present invention to the method using the bidirectional plot described above.

The drawing data supplied from the host computer is analyzed and converted into drawing vector data by, for example, a drawing data analysis section (not shown), and when a plurality of pens are used, a data group for each pen is generated. , and are sequentially stored in the sorting buffer 11 for each pen. The drawing vector data stored for each pen in the sorting buffer 11 is processed for each pen as described below.

The drawing vector data stored in the sorting buffer 11 is sequentially processed in a sorting processing section 12 for each vector data to be drawn next, and an end point to be a drawing starting point is selected. The vector data starting from the selected end point is transferred from the sorting buffer 11 to the drawing control unit 13. The drawing control section 13 operates the drive mechanism section 14 according to the supplied data to move the pen and move the pen up/down.

The sort processing unit 12 includes a movement amount calculation unit 15 that calculates the movement amount in the pen-up state for each end point of the vector data, and a movement amount calculation unit 15 that calculates the movement amount in the pen-up state for each end point of the vector data, and based on the processing of the movement amount calculation unit 15, vector data to be drawn next. and an end point selection section 16 that selects an end point.

The movement amount calculation unit 15 uses the sorting buffer 1
A coincidence detection unit 17 detects whether one end point and both end points of the next vector data read from 1 match with any of the end points of a predetermined number of other undrawn vector data in the sorting buffer 11. And, if there are no endpoints that match both endpoints of the next vector data, calculate the amount of pen-up movement from the processing start point (current position) to these two endpoints, if the endpoints match both endpoints of the next vector data. If there is other undrawn vector data, the series of vector data with matching end points is treated as a single vector, and the amount of pen-up movement from the processing start point (current position) to both ends of this series of vector data is calculated. It has a movement amount calculating section 18 that calculates the respective amounts.

When the coincidence detection section 17 determines that only one end point of the next vector data matches the end point of another undrawn vector data, the end point selection section 16 selects a movement amount calculation section 18. The other end point of the next vector data is selected without waiting for the calculation of Select the shorter endpoint of the quantity.

In this embodiment, instead of simply selecting the end point closest to the current position, that is, the processing starting point, the method selects consecutive vector data whose end points coincide with the vector data to be drawn next, out of a predetermined number of vector data. , a series of consecutive vector data with matching endpoints is treated as a single piece of data, and the series of vector data is drawn continuously without calculating the amount of movement each time. Select the next endpoint.

[0031] By doing this, it is possible to efficiently and continuously draw a series of continuous vector data with the end points coincident, so that the drawing efficiency is increased and the calculation process is extremely simplified. .

Referring to the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, centering on the sort processing section 12, will be specifically explained. Drawing vector data obtained based on drawing data supplied from the host computer is sequentially stored in a sorting buffer 11. This operation is performed at any time until there is no more drawing data.

In step S1, the next vector data is sequentially read out from the sorting buffer 11 in the order in which the data is stored. In step S2, step S1
It is checked whether each end point of the subsequent other vector data in the sorting buffer 11 matches the end point of the next vector data read out. It is checked in step S3 whether or not this confirmation has been completed for a predetermined number of subsequent vector data in the sorting buffer 11, and the processing in step S2 is continued until completion or there is no other vector data in the sorting buffer 11. repeat. In step S4, based on the results of the confirmation in steps S2 and S3, it is determined whether there is any other vector data having an end point that matches the end point of the next vector data.

If it is determined in step S4 that the endpoints of the next vector data do not match the endpoints of other vector data, the process moves to step S5, and both endpoints of the next vector data are determined. The end point that is closer to the current position, that is, the processing starting point, is selected.

If it is determined in step S4 that the end points of the next vector data coincide with the end points of other vector data, then in step S6, other vectors are added to both end points of the next vector data. It is determined whether the end points of the data match.

If it is determined in step S6 that only one end point of the next vector data coincides with the end point of another vector data, the process moves to step S7, and the end point of the next vector data matches the end point of the other vector data. Among them, the end point that does not match the end point of the other vector data is selected.

If it is determined in step S6 that the end points of other vector data match the end points of the next vector data, the process moves to step S8, and the end points of the next vector data are matched. , a series of continuous vector data with common endpoints is regarded as one vector data, and the endpoint nearer to the processing starting point is selected from both endpoints of this series of vector data.

The processes of steps S2 to S4 and S6 described above are performed by the coincidence detection section 17 of the movement amount calculation section 15.
The processing in steps S5 and S8 is performed by the movement amount calculation section 18 and the end point selection section 16 of the movement amount calculation section 15, and the processing in step S7 is performed by the end point selection section 16.

Next, in step S9, the end point selection section 16
Then, starting from the end point selected in steps S5, S7, and S8, one or a series of vector data corresponding thereto is transferred to the drawing control unit 13, and the drive mechanism unit 14
causes one or a series of vector data to be drawn. In step S10, one or a series of drawn vector data is deleted from the sorting buffer 11.

In step S11, sorting buffer 11
It is determined whether there is no vector data left in the sorting buffer 11, and if there is vector data in the sorting buffer 11, the process returns to step S1 and the processes of steps S1 to S10 described above are repeated until there is no vector data in the sorting buffer 11. If it is determined in step S11 that there is no vector data in the sorting buffer 11, the process is terminated and the process proceeds to the next process, for example, processing of other pen data.

A specific example of the above processing will be explained in more detail. First, as shown in Figure 3, with the pen at the current position, that is, the processing starting point 0, line segments 1 to
The vector data corresponding to 3 is stored in the sorting buffer 11.
Consider the case where it is stored in

In this case, at one end point b of end points a and b of line segment 1 corresponding to the next vector data,
One end point of line segment 3 corresponding to the subsequent vector data coincides. In this case, among both end points a and b of the line segment 1, the end point a, which does not coincide with one end point of the line segment 3 corresponding to the subsequent vector data, is used as a starting point to correspond to the subsequent vector data. Line segments 1 and 3 are drawn continuously up to the other end point c of line segment 3. Vector data corresponding to line segment 2 shown in FIG. 3 is then drawn.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, consider a case where vector data corresponding to line segments 1 to 4 are stored in the sorting buffer 11 with the pen at the current position, that is, the processing starting point 0.

In this case, one end point of line segment 3 and one end point of line segment 4, which correspond to the subsequent vector data, correspond to both end points a and b of line segment 1 corresponding to the next vector data, respectively. are in agreement. In this case, a series of vector data corresponding to the line segment 3-1-4 is treated as one vector data, and the line is Line segments 3, 1, and 4 are drawn consecutively up to the end point d of line segment 4, which does not coincide with end point b of segment 1. Vector data corresponding to line segment 2 shown in FIG. 4 is then drawn.

That is, in this embodiment, vector data is not necessarily selected in the order in which the vector data is given;
If drawing can be done efficiently, the vector data is sorted and drawn, ignoring the order in which it is given.

[0046] In the above, when investigating the relationship between the next vector data and other vector data, it would require a very large amount of calculation and time to investigate all subsequent vector data. Only the subsequent vector data is examined for its relationship with the next vector data.

Furthermore, whether or not the end points of the vector data match can be confirmed by comparing the coordinate values. In other words, let the coordinate values of one end point of the vector data to be checked whether they match or not be (X, Y),
If the coordinate values of the other vector data end point are (Xn, Yn), then X and Xn and Y and Yn are compared to see if both coordinates match.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the main parts of a plotter device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is an application of the present invention to the method using the nearest point selection described above.

The drawing data supplied from the host computer is analyzed and converted into drawing vector data by, for example, a drawing data analysis section (not shown), and if a plurality of pens are used, a data group for each pen is , and are sequentially stored in the sorting buffer 11 for each pen. The drawing vector data stored for each pen in the sorting buffer 11 is processed for each pen as described below.

The drawing vector data stored in the sorting buffer 11 is sequentially processed in the sorting processing section 21 for each vector data to be drawn next, and an end point serving as a drawing starting point is selected. The vector data starting from the selected end point is transferred from the sorting buffer 11 to the drawing control unit 13. The drawing control section 13 operates the drive mechanism section 14 according to the supplied data to move the pen and move the pen up/down.

The sort processing unit 21 includes a movement amount calculation unit 22 that calculates the movement amount in the pen-up state for each end point of the vector data, and a movement amount calculation unit 22 that calculates the movement amount in the pen-up state for each end point of vector data, and a movement amount calculation unit 22 that calculates the amount of movement in the pen-up state for each end point of vector data, and based on the processing of this movement amount calculation unit 22, vector data to be drawn next. and an end point selection section 23 that selects an end point.

The movement amount calculation unit 22 uses the sorting buffer 1
The end points of a predetermined number of vector data read from 1 are
A coincidence detection unit 24 detects whether or not the endpoints of other undrawn vector data read out from the sorting buffer 11 match, and the other vector endpoints among the endpoints of the vector data do not match. It has a movement amount calculation section 25 that calculates the pen-up movement amount for the end point.

The end point selection unit 23 connects the end point determination unit 26 which determines the end point with the smallest pen-up movement amount calculated by the movement amount calculation unit 25 as the end point to be drawn next, and the end point determined by the end point determination unit 26. A concatenation processing unit 27 that connects a series of vectors so as to consider them as one vector when another endpoint of the vector matches another endpoint of the included vector.
It has

In this embodiment, instead of simply selecting the end point closest to the current position, that is, the processing starting point, from a predetermined number of vector data, two or more end points of the predetermined number of vector data match. For all endpoints except the endpoints, find the endpoint with the smallest amount of pen-up movement from the processing starting point, select this endpoint as the starting point of the vector data to be drawn next, and make the endpoint coincide with the other endpoint of that vector data. If other vector data exists in the predetermined number of vector data, these series of vector data are concatenated and treated like a single data, without performing sorting calculation processing on each one.
The series of vector data is drawn continuously.

[0055] By doing this, it is possible to efficiently and continuously draw a series of continuous vector data with the end points coincident, so that the drawing efficiency is increased and the calculation process is extremely simplified. .

Referring to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, the operation centered on the sort processing section 12 of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 will be specifically explained. Drawing vector data obtained based on drawing data supplied from the host computer is sequentially stored in a sorting buffer 11. This operation is performed at any time until there is no more drawing data.

At step T1, a predetermined number of vector data in the sorting buffer 11 is read out sequentially in the order in which they are stored, and it is checked whether the coordinates of each end point match. In step T2, if the endpoint of the vector data matches one or more other vector data endpoints based on the confirmation result of step T1, that vector data endpoint is excluded from the sorting operation. It is checked in step T3 whether or not the processing of steps T1 and T2 has been completed for a predetermined number of vector data in the sorting buffer 11.
Step T1 until there is no other vector data within 1.
and repeat the process of T2.

[0058] In step T4, the steps T1 to T
Based on the result of the confirmation in step 3, sorting calculation processing is performed on the endpoints that remained without being excluded, that is, the endpoints that do not match other endpoints, and the vector endpoints to be drawn next are selected.

In step T5, it is determined whether or not another vector is connected to the selected end point. If another vector is connected to the selected end point, in step T6, it is determined whether or not the vector is connected to the selected end point. After performing processing to consider the vector including the vector as one vector, the process moves to step T7. If it is determined in step T5 that no other vector is connected to the selected end point, the process immediately proceeds to step T7.

The processing of steps T1 to T3 described above is performed by the coincidence detection section 24 of the movement amount calculation section 22, and the processing of step T4
This process is performed by the movement amount calculation section 25 of the movement amount calculation section 22 and the end point determination section 26 of the end point selection section 23, and step T
5 and T6 are performed by the connection processing unit 27 of the end point selection unit 23.
It will be held in

In step T7, starting from the end point selected in step T4, one or a series of vector data is transferred to the drawing control section 13, and the drive mechanism section 14 draws the one or series of vector data. . In step T8, one or a series of drawn vector data is deleted from the sorting buffer 11.

In step T9, it is determined whether or not there is no more vector data in the sorting buffer 11. If there is vector data in the sorting buffer 11, the process returns to step T1 until the sorting buffer 11 has no more vector data. The processes of steps T1 to T8 described above are repeated. If it is determined in step T9 that there is no vector data in the sorting buffer 11, the process is terminated and the process proceeds to the next process, for example, processing of other pen data.

A specific example of the above processing will be explained in more detail. As shown in FIG. 7, consider a case where vector data corresponding to line segments 1 to 3 are stored in the sorting buffer 11 with the pen at the current position, that is, the processing starting point 0.

In this case, end points a and b of line segment 1 corresponding to the next vector data coincide with one end point of each of line segments 2 and 3 corresponding to the subsequent vector data. In this case, of the other end point c of the line segment 2 and the other end point d of the line segment 3, the end point c that is closer to the processing starting point O is selected. That is, the end point c is selected without selecting the end point a (line segment 1) that is closest to the processing starting point O. As mentioned above, end point b of line segment 1 is connected to line segment 2 having end point c, and line segment 3 is connected to end point a of line segment 1, so the line starts from end point c. It is drawn continuously from line segment 2 through line segment 1 to end point d of line segment 3. In this case, no sorting arithmetic processing is performed at intermediate endpoints b and a.

In other words, in this embodiment, the endpoints connecting vector data are excluded from the sorting calculation processing, and the endpoints that are connected to the vector data are excluded from the sorting calculation processing, and the endpoints are not included in the vector data to be selected and drawn based on the results of the sorting calculation processing. If other vector data are connected, they are drawn consecutively without performing sorting arithmetic processing.

[0066] In the above, when checking whether the end points of vector data and other vector data match,
Since examining all subsequent vector data would require a very large amount of calculation and time, only a predetermined number of subsequent vector data are examined, similar to the sorting arithmetic processing.

FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the main parts of a plotter device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, instead of the sorting process using the nearest point selection described above, a sorting process is used to select a route with the smallest pen-up movement amount among a predetermined number of subsequent vector data.

The configuration of FIG. 8 is almost the same as that of FIG. 5 except for a part of the sort processing section 31. The drawing data supplied from the host computer is analyzed and converted into drawing vector data by, for example, a drawing data analysis unit (not shown), and when multiple pens are used, it is compiled into a data group for each pen. sort buffer 11 for each pen.
are stored sequentially. The drawing vector data stored for each pen in the sorting buffer 11 is processed for each pen as described below.

The drawing vector data stored in the sorting buffer 11 is sequentially processed by the sorting processing unit 31 for each vector data to be drawn next, and an end point serving as a drawing starting point is selected. The vector data starting from the selected end point is transferred from the sorting buffer 11 to the drawing control unit 13. The drawing control section 13 operates the drive mechanism section 14 according to the supplied data to move the pen and move the pen up/down.

The sort processing unit 31 includes a movement amount calculation unit 32 that calculates the movement amount in the pen-up state for each end point of the vector data, and a movement amount calculation unit 32 that calculates the movement amount in the pen-up state for each end point of vector data, and based on the processing of this movement amount calculation unit 32, vector data to be drawn next. and an end point selection section 33 that selects an end point.

The movement amount calculation unit 32 uses the sorting buffer 1
The end points of a predetermined number of vector data read from 1 are
A coincidence detection unit 34 detects whether the endpoints of other undrawn vector data read from the sorting buffer 11 match or not, and the other vector endpoints among the endpoints of the vector data do not match. About end points 2
It has a movement amount calculation unit 35 that calculates the total amount of pen-up movement required to draw a vector more than one vector ahead, for example, two vectors ahead.

The end point selection section 33 includes an end point determination section 36 which determines the end point with the smallest total pen-up movement amount calculated by the movement amount calculation section 35 as the end point to be drawn next;
The connection processing unit 37 connects a series of vectors so as to consider them as one vector when other vector endpoints match the other endpoints of the vector including the endpoint determined in step 6. .

That is, the only difference in FIG. 8 from FIG. 5 is essentially the movement amount calculation section 35 of the movement amount calculation section 32 and the end point determination section 36 of the end point selection section 33.

In this embodiment, instead of simply selecting the end point closest to the current position, ie, the processing starting point, from a predetermined number of vector data, the process continues until the vector data two lines ahead is drawn from the current position, ie, the processing starting point. The end point with the smallest total pen-up movement amount is selected from a predetermined number of vector data. In addition, for all endpoints excluding endpoints where two or more endpoints match among the predetermined number of vector data, find the endpoint with the smallest total pen-up movement from the processing starting point, and select this endpoint as the next Select this as the starting point of the vector data to be drawn, and if other vector data whose end point coincides with the other end point of the vector data exists in the predetermined number of vector data, connect these series of vector data. The vector data is treated as a single piece of data, and the series of vector data is drawn continuously without performing sorting calculations on each one.

Note that the present invention is applicable not only to so-called flatbed type plotters in which the pen moves in both the X and Y directions, but also to so-called paper moving type plotters in which the pen moves in one direction in both the X and Y directions and the drawing paper moves in the other direction. can also be implemented in the same manner as described above.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a plurality of vector data to be drawn includes a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide, the plurality of vector data are combined into a series of data. By continuously drawing as It is possible to provide a plotter control method and a plotter device that can also contribute to time reduction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of main parts of a plotter device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the control operation of the plotter device in FIG. 1;

3 is a schematic diagram of an example of drawn line segments for explaining the specific operation of the plotter device of FIG. 1. FIG.

4 is a schematic diagram of another example of drawn line segments for explaining the specific operation of the plotter device of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of main parts of a plotter device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart for explaining the control operation of the plotter device of FIG. 5. FIG.

7 is a schematic diagram of an example of drawn line segments for explaining the specific operation of the plotter device of FIG. 5. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of main parts of a plotter device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of drawn line segments for explaining a control operation called bidirectional plotting in a conventional plotter device.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of drawn line segments for explaining a control operation called closest point selection in a conventional plotter device.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of drawn line segments for explaining problems in control operations in a conventional plotter device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 to 4... Line segment, 11... Sorting buffer, 12, 21,
31... Sort processing section, 13... Drawing control section, 14... Drive mechanism section, 15, 22, 32... Movement amount calculation section, 16, 23,
33... End point selection section, 17, 24, 34... Coincidence detection section, 1
8, 25, 35... Movement amount calculation section, 26, 36... End point determination section, 27, 37... Connection processing section.

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claim 1: Drawing vector data based on drawing data that is sequentially applied is temporarily stored in a buffer means, and based on the vector data stored in the buffer means, a vector end point to be drawn next is selected, and the vector data is sequentially drawn. In the method for controlling a plotter for drawing, a continuous vector detection step detects a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide from undrawn vector data stored in the buffer means, and a continuous vector detection step in which the end points coincide with each other in the continuous vector detection step. When multiple vector data are detected, these multiple vector data are treated as a series of vector data, and the end point is used to select the next vector end point to be drawn from undrawn vector data that includes the series of vector data. A plotter control method comprising: a selection step. 2. Drawing vector data based on drawing data that is sequentially applied is temporarily stored in a buffer means, and based on the vector data stored in the buffer means, a vector end point to be drawn next is selected, and the vector data is sequentially drawn. In the method for controlling a plotter for drawing, a continuous vector detection step detects a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide from undrawn vector data stored in the buffer means, and a continuous vector detection step in which the end points coincide with each other in the continuous vector detection step. If multiple vector data are detected, a vector combination step is performed to combine the multiple vector data into a series of vector data, and a vector combination step is performed to combine the multiple vector data into a series of vector data, and to undrawn vector data containing the series of vector data combined in this vector combination step. For each endpoint, it has a movement amount calculation step that calculates a pen-up movement amount related to that endpoint, and an endpoint selection step that selects a vector endpoint to be drawn next based on the calculation result of this movement amount calculation step. A plotter control method characterized by: 3. Buffer means for storing drawing vector data based on drawing data given sequentially, and continuous vector detection means for detecting a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide from undrawn vector data stored in the buffer means. If this continuous vector detection means detects multiple vector data whose end points coincide, these multiple vector data are treated as a series of vector data, and the undrawn vector data that includes the series of vector data is A plotter apparatus comprising: end point selection means for selecting a vector end point to be plotted next from . 4. Buffer means for storing drawing vector data based on drawing data given sequentially, and continuous vector detection means for detecting a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide from undrawn vector data stored in the buffer means. and, when this continuous vector detection means detects a plurality of vector data whose end points coincide with each other, a vector combination means that combines the plurality of vector data as a series of vector data, and a vector combination means that combines the plurality of vector data as a series of vector data. For each end point of undrawn vector data including a series of vector data, there is a movement amount calculation means for calculating the amount of movement in the pen-up state related to that end point, and based on the calculation result of this movement amount calculation means, the next step is performed. A plotter device comprising: end point selection means for selecting end points of a vector to be plotted.