JPH05177988A - Pen replacement control device for automatic drawing instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to use a lead up to the length as short as possible at the time of drawing, and take in a pen with a long lead at the time of pen replacement, and improve the work efficiency by forcibly subjecting the pen with a short residual lead being returned to a pen stocker be an object for automatic lead feeding. CONSTITUTION:A knocking motion is performed once with a pen 4 which is returned to a pen stocker 70 at the time of pen replacement. After this knocking motion, it is detected whether the lead has been detached from the chuck or not by comparing the ascending quantity and descending quantity of a pen pressure collar by the output of a linear encoder. The pen which is decided being detached from the chuck by this means is forcibly subjected to automatic lead feeding. That is, the lead is used to the length as short as possible at the time of drawing, and in addition, a pen with a long lead can be taken in at the time of pen replacement, and therefore, the work efficiency can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic drafting machine using a knock type pencil, and in particular, when the pen is returned, a knocking operation is performed once to detect a pen with a short residual core, and the pen is automatically forced to refill. The present invention relates to a pen replacement control device that is targeted and has improved drawing efficiency.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pen head holding a knock type pencil is moved along a screen to perform drawing with the pencil lowered, and a horizontal movement or lead in a non-drawing state with the pencil raised. An automatic drafting machine (plotter) for drawing out is extremely useful because it can express the drawing data created by CAD at an arbitrary magnification.

At the time of drawing, the pen head is moved along the drawing screen while the pencil lead protruding from the tip of the pencil is brought into contact with the drawing screen with a predetermined writing pressure, so that the pencil lead is consumed in proportion to the drawing time. When the core is exhausted during drawing, the core is gradually extended to extend the core, but when the pen is down to a position where the core cannot be extended, once the pen is up, the centering knock is performed, and then the pen is down again to continue drawing. To do. Generally, one pencil lead is used by being fed out part by part by a plurality of centering knocks.

If one pencil lead is used to the end, only one lead is built in unless it is a multi-core pencil.
Need to change pen. This pen replacement is an operation in which the pen head is moved to a pen stocker located at a position off the screen, the pen is replaced with another pen waiting here, and the pen returns to the drawing position. At this time, on the pen stocker side, a new lead is supplied by performing "automatic lead-filling" on the pen that has been returned due to the lead-out. There is no problem if the new pen imported by such a pen replacement has a long core, but if you import a pen with a short core, it will be out of core immediately after printing is resumed and you need to replace the pen again. Occurs, and the drawing efficiency decreases.

Although it depends on the type of pencil, even if the residual core comes off from the chuck like a knock type pencil to be described later, 2
There is also a method of continuing to draw while pushing the rear end of the residual core with the chuck tip when 0 mm or more remains. This is because the pen replacement is reduced as much as possible to increase the drawing time and to increase the drawing efficiency. In such a system, the remnant core may be returned to the pen stocker in an extremely short state. In this case, when the pen is taken out from the pen stocker next time, the pen is immediately lost and the pen needs to be replaced, which also causes a decrease in the drawing efficiency.

[0006]

As described above, the drawing efficiency is improved by using the lead while drawing as short as possible and taking the pen with the longest lead when replacing the pen. However, if it is not known which pen in the pen stocker has a long lead, it may take in a pen with a short remnant lead.

The present invention improves the above-mentioned points, and in an automatic drafting machine using a knock type pencil, the pen having a short residual core returned to the pen stocker is forcibly targeted for automatic core feeding, thereby improving the drawing efficiency. Intended to improve.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a pen head holding a knock type pencil with a built-in chuck for feeding out a pencil lead is moved along a working screen, and the pencil is lowered. In a pen exchange control device of an automatic drafting machine for performing drawing and moving the pencil to a pen stocker outside the drawing area for pen exchange,
A pen returned to the pen stocker when a pen replacement request is made 1
A means for performing a knocking operation once, a means for detecting whether or not the core chuck is disengaged after the knocking operation, and a means for forcibly determining that the pen is disengaged from the core chuck by this means as a target of automatic core refilling. It is characterized by comprising.

[0009]

[Function] During printing, in order to improve the printing efficiency, the rear end of the residual core is pushed by the chuck tip to continue printing even if the core comes off the chuck. As a result, if the lead is further consumed and the pen needs to be replaced, the normal pen replacement process is performed. On the other hand, if a pen replacement request is generated due to other factors during drawing, the knocking operation is performed once to detect the remaining core length. After this knocking operation, it is determined whether the chuck is disengaged. If the chuck is not disengaged, it is determined that the residual core is long.

The above-described short remnant core can be sufficiently drawn during normal drawing, and therefore is not the target of automatic core filling, but is controlled so that it is forcibly set as the target of automatic core filling when the pen is replaced. To do. In this way, the remaining core can be used during drawing until the remaining core becomes short, and a pen having a long core can be taken in when the pen is replaced, so that the drawing efficiency is improved as much as possible. Further, since the coreless can be detected when the pen is returned, it is easy to receive the automatic core-feeding service.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the entire paper moving type plotter according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, a Y-axis rail 2 is erected on a support base 1 with a carry, and a pen head 3 that moves along the Y-axis rail 2 is mounted on the Y-axis rail 2. A pen 4 for drawing and a scope 5 for digitizing are attached to the pen head 3, and a drawing roller (not shown) is arranged immediately below the pen 4. The recording paper 6 is conveyed in the X direction between the drawing roller and the pen head 3, and is entirely covered by a protective cover 7 that can be opened and closed.

A pen stocker accommodating portion 8 is formed at one end of the Y-axis rail 2, and a pen stocker holding a plurality of pens of different pen types and a pencil lead having a different core diameter are separated from each other. A wick accommodating portion that accommodates is arranged. Then, when the pen is replaced or when a new lead is requested, the lead selected from the lead storage portion is inserted into the pen having a corresponding lead diameter and is delivered to the pen head 3. A housing 9 for a motor that drives the pen head 3 and various rollers is formed at the other end of the Y-axis rail 2. Furthermore, at the top of this plotter,
An operation panel 10 is provided, on which a memory card 11 for registering various parameters, operation sets, etc. can be mounted.

FIG. 2 shows the details of the pen head 3 and the outline of the pen 4. The pen head 3 has a fixed knock plate 20, a movable writing pressure arm 21, and an up / down arm (hereinafter abbreviated as U / D arm) 22 on the outside, and
A motor 23 for raising and lowering the writing pressure arm 21, a linear encoder 24 for detecting the amount of elevation, and a U / D arm 2 are provided inside.
It has a moving coil 25 that moves up and down 2, a rack and pinion mechanism 26 that converts the rotation of the motor 23 into a linear motion, and the like.

The pen 4 is a knock type pencil and is basically composed of three coaxial members 30 to 32. Reference numeral 30 is a centermost knock portion, 31 is an intermediate middle body portion, and 32 is an outermost holder portion. The knock portion 30 has a knob 33, which is brought into abutment with the knock plate 20 fixed to the uppermost position of the pen head 3 when knocking. The middle body 31 is the writing pressure brim 3
4 and is fitted and held by the writing pressure arm 21 in the center of the pen head 3. The holder portion 32 has a holder collar 35, which is fitted and held by the U / D arm 22 located at the lowest position of the pen head 3. 36 is a pencil lead protruding from the tip of the holder.

The motor 23 raises and lowers the writing pressure arm 21 via a rack and pinion mechanism 26, whereby the middle body 3
Raise and lower 1. The moving coil 25 moves the holder 32 up and down via the U / D arm 22. Pen-up required for drawing with these two drive sources 23, 25,
Various operations such as pen down, writing pressure application, and centering are performed. This will be described below with reference to the detailed sectional view of the pen 4 shown in FIG.

The knock part 30 is entirely hollow, and a new core 36 is supplied from the upper open end 40. This knock part 30
The lower end of the is a slot-shaped chuck 41 so that the supplied core 36 can be firmly gripped. The middle body 31 is also entirely hollow, and has a hole 42 at the lower end through which the lead 36 passes, and a cavity 43 for opening the chuck is formed in front of it. The holder portion 32 is also entirely hollow, and has a core projecting hole 44 formed at the lower end thereof, and a braking rubber 45 capable of holding the core 36 by frictional force is provided inside thereof.

A first portion is provided between the knock portion 30 and the middle body portion 31.
A return spring 46 is interposed, and a second return spring 47 is interposed between the middle body portion 31 and the holder portion 32. Therefore, in the natural state, for example, with the middle body portion 31 as a reference,
The knock portion 30 is displaced upward, and the holder portion 32 is displaced downward. In this case, depending on the shape of the cavity 43 of the middle body portion 31 that accommodates the tip of the chuck 41, the knock portion 30
There is a limit to the upward displacement of. Further, the step portion 48 in which the holder portion 32 and the middle body portion 31 engage with each other allows the holder portion 32 to be
There is a limit to the downward displacement of.

Inside the holder part 32, a core follow-up tube 50 having a hole 49 for penetrating the core is accommodated as a fourth member, and this is a hole 42 of the middle body part 31 and a hole 44 of the holder part 32.
It is an intermediate core guide with. This lead tracking tube 50
Is movable in the axial direction between the middle body part 31 and the holder part 32, but is always biased by the third return spring 51 so as to be displaced upward.

With the above pencil structure in mind, the operation of the head shown in FIG. 2 will be described again. First, the head 3 is the pen 4
When the motor 23 is rotated and the middle body portion 31 is raised while holding, the knock portion 30 also rises at the same time due to the elasticity of the first return spring 46, and the knob 33 eventually collides with the lower surface of the knock plate 20. To meet. This state can be detected by the torque fluctuation of the motor 23. When the middle body portion 31 is raised, the holder portion 32 is also raised at the same time.

When the knob 33 abuts against the lower surface of the knock plate 20 and then the motor 23 is further rotated to raise the inner barrel portion 31, the void 43 of the inner barrel portion 31 reaches the tip position of the chuck 41, The chuck 41 is released. When the chuck 41 is opened, the core 36 drops downward through the chuck 41, passes through the hole 42 of the middle body portion 31 and the hole 49 of the core follow-up tube 50, and reaches the braking rubber 45. In order to ensure this core drop, it is better that the holes 42, 49 and the braking rubber 45 are closer to each other. Therefore, the holder portion 32 is sufficiently raised and the lead follow-up tube 50 is pushed up to approach the tip of the middle body portion 31.

When the lead 36 drops from the chuck 41, the holder 32 is lowered while the chuck 41 remains open. As a result, the lead 36, the tip of which is abutted against the braking rubber 45, is further pulled out from the inside of the chuck. The amount of lowering of the holder portion 32 determines the centering length for each centering. When this centering is completed, the middle body part 31
Is slightly lowered to close the chuck 41 to firmly hold a part of the core 36.

When the chuck 41 holds the lead 36, when the holder portion 32 is fixed and the middle body portion 31 is lowered, the knock portion 30 is also lowered integrally. It penetrates 45 and projects below. Now you are ready to draw. After that, when the protruding core 36 is consumed as a result of drawing, the core 36 is always protruded by a certain length by lowering the middle body portion 31 by that amount. When the inner trunk portion 31 eventually descends to the lowermost end, the core 36 cannot be further projected. Therefore, the above-described knocking operation involving opening the chuck is performed. Generally, it takes several knocking operations to use up one core 36.

Drawing is performed with the pen 4 down.
Centering is performed with the pen 4 up. Also, the pen replacement and line segment movement during printing are performed at an up position lower than the centering. The pen 4 having this structure applies a desired writing pressure by the force of pressing the middle body portion 31. Therefore, the motor 23 is used not only for the lead-out control of the lead but also for the writing pressure control.

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of the pen stocker 70 and the lead tank 80 housed in the pen stocker housing portion 8 of FIG. The pen stocker 70 is of a rotary type, has a rotary shaft 71 in the center thereof, and has brim portions 72 and 73 having concave portions capable of holding a plurality of pens 4 in the circumferential direction. The concave portions are numbered in the circumferential direction, and pens of a predetermined pen type are held at the corresponding pen number positions. The lead tank 80 is located above the pen stocker, and the plurality of tanks 81, 82, ... At the bottom of each of the tanks 81, 82, ... There is a lead drop portion such as a chuck mechanism, from which a lead 36 having a required lead diameter is supplied (naturally dropped) to the knock portion 30 of the pen 4. The core diameter is selected by rotating the core tank 80.

In the present invention, the remaining core length is determined before returning the pen 4 to the pen stocker 70, and a pen with a short remaining core is forcibly targeted for automatic core feeding. For this reason, first, when a pen replacement request is made during drawing, the knocking operation is performed once. This knocking operation is different from the knocking operation (centering when the core is worn out) performed when the middle body portion 31 in FIG. 2 is lowered to the limit during normal drawing, and is for detecting the length of the residual core. is there. That is, the knocking operation is performed regardless of the remaining core length, and the chuck detachment is detected by one of the methods described later. By doing so, it is possible to detect whether or not the residual core length is such that the knocking operation causes it to come off from the chuck.

Detachment of the chuck can be detected by the following method. (1) Method of Detecting Change in Elevation / Decrease of Writing Pressure Collar In the knocking operation, as shown in FIG. 2, the writing pressure collar 34 is opened to open the chuck 41 from the state where the knob 33 of the pen 4 is in contact with the knock plate 20. Raise. Then, after a lapse of the time when it is predicted that the lead has dropped, the writing pressure collar 34 is lowered to close the chuck 41. However, the chuck outer diameter when the chuck is closed is different between when the lead is held and when not held. , The former is thicker. 5A and 5B are views for explaining this. FIG. 5A shows a state in which the chuck 41 holds the lead 36, and FIG. 5B shows a state in which the lead 36 is not held. In front of the chuck opening space 43 of the middle body portion 31, there is formed an inclined portion 55 having a smaller diameter toward the upper side as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. If the outer diameter of the chuck is large, the writing pressure brim 34
Since the descending amount of is short, this is detected. Specifically, since the rise amount of the writing pressure brim is the maximum value of the fall amount, the rise amount and the fall amount are compared with each other by the output of the encoder 24, and if the rise amount <the fall amount, it is determined that the chuck is detached. Figure 6
(A) is an overall view in which the chuck 41 is closed without holding the core, and (b) is an overall view in which the chuck 41 is closed while holding the core 36. As you can see from this figure,
Since the chuck 41 of (a) has a small outer diameter, the amount by which the writing pressure collar 34 descends is larger than in the case of (b).

(2) Method of using braking rubber After the knocking operation is completed, when the writing pressure collar 34 is raised, if the holder portion 32 is also raised, the lead 36 is braked with the chuck 41 as shown in FIG. 6 (b). It is held by both rubbers 45.
At this time, if the core is disengaged from the chuck 41 as shown in FIG. 4A, the holder 32 cannot be lifted, so that the disengagement of the chuck can be detected.

(3) A method of measuring the distance between the knock plate and the knob. It is detected from the distance between the knob 33 and the knock plate 20 here that the outer diameter of the chuck changes depending on the presence or absence of the core, as in the above (1). That is, if the lead is not chucked, the knob 3
This is because the space between the knock plate 3 and the knock plate 3 is narrow, and the space becomes wide when chucked. When the writing pressure brim 34 of FIGS. 6A and 6B has the same height, the height difference of the knob 33 is smaller than that of the writing pressure brim 34. Is high. That is, the gap between the knock plate at the fixed position and the position at which the knob 33 is located is narrower in FIG.

The above-described chuck detachment detection is performed immediately after the knocking operation immediately before the pen replacement, and the pen detected as the chuck detachment here is forcibly targeted for automatic core feeding. By doing this, the remnant core can be used until it becomes as short as possible during drawing, and since the pen to be taken in by exchanging the pen has a minimum length, it is necessary to re-pen immediately after exchanging the pen. There is no need to replace it, and the printing efficiency is improved.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, in an automatic drafting machine using a knock type pencil, a pen with a short residual core returned to the pen stocker is forcibly targeted for automatic core feeding. The advantage is that when drawing, the lead is used until it is as short as possible, and when replacing the pen, a pen with a long lead can be taken in, which improves the drawing efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a paper moving type plotter showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of a pen head portion of the plotter.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a knock type pencil.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a pen stocker portion.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the tip of the chuck.

FIG. 6 is an operation state diagram of the entire pencil.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... Pen head, 4 ... Knock type pencil, 6 ... Recording paper, 8 ... Pen stocker housing, 10 ... Operation panel, 20
... knock plate, 21 ... writing pressure arm, 22 ... up / down arm, 23 ... motor, 24 ... linear encoder, 25
… Moving coil, 30… Knock part, 31… Middle trunk part,
32 ... Holder part, 33 ... Knob, 34 ... Writing pressure collar, 35 ...
Holder collar, 36 ... Lead, 41 ... Chuck, 45 ... Braking rubber, 50 ... Lead follower tube, 70 ... Pen stocker, 80 ... Lead tank.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pen head holding a knock type pencil with a built-in chuck for feeding out a pencil lead is moved along a drawing screen to perform drawing with the pencil lowered, and the pencil is moved to a pen stocker outside the drawing area. In a pen replacement control device for an automatic drafting machine that moves and replaces a pen, a pen returned to the pen stocker when a pen replacement request is made
A means for performing a knocking operation once, a means for detecting whether or not the core chuck has come off after the knocking operation, and a means for forcibly determining that the pen has come off the core chuck by this means as a target for automatic core feeding. A pen replacement control device for an automatic drafting machine, comprising: