JPH05262094A - Plotter apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the size of a paper used for a plotter apparatus wherein a pen is moved on the paper fixed on a plane and drawing is performed by utilizing the trace to be unlimited and decrease a space occupied by the plotter apparatus. CONSTITUTION:The direction of drawing a line is determined by means of a stepping motor 7 and rubber balls 2a-2d are rotated by means of stepping motors 3a-3d and a pen 8 is moved on a paper 11 and the pen 8 is moved upward and downward by means of a solenoid 9 to obtain a required drawing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plotter device, and more particularly to a plotter device which draws by using the trajectory of a pen when the contact of the pen tip and the movement of the pen are simultaneously performed on a sheet fixed on a plane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional plotter device is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 15 is a pen for drawing a locus,
Reference numeral 16 denotes a pen support portion that supports or supports the pen 15 and contacts or separates the tip of the pen 15 from the paper, and 17 denotes the pen support portion 1.
The stepping motor that moves 6 in the Y direction is 18
Is a pulley which is rotated by the driving of the stepping motor 17, 19 is a pulley, and 20 is a pulley 18 and a pulley 19.
6, 21 is a support portion for fixing the stepping motor 17 and the pulley 19 to each other, 22 is a stepping motor for moving the support portion 21 in the X direction, and 23 is a stepping motor 22.
, 24 is a pulley that rotates by the drive of
25 is a belt which hangs over the pulley 23 and the pulley 24 to fix the support portion 21 to a part thereof and which transmits the rotational movement of the stepping motor 22 as the movement movement of the support portion 21 in the X direction, and 26 leaves the locus of the pen 15. Reference numeral 27 denotes a symmetrical sheet, and 27 denotes a flat drafting table for fixing the sheet 26. The movement range of the pen 15 is limited to the plane of the drawing table 27.

During operation, the computer system sends drawing data to the plotter device, and the plotter device operates according to the drawing data. The drawing data is composed of an instruction for contacting or separating the tip of the pen 15 of the plotter device and the paper, a movement amount in the X direction from the current position of the pen 15, and a movement amount in the Y direction. The tip of the pen 15 and the paper are brought into contact with and separated from each other by the support portion 16, the stepping motor 22 and the stepping motor 17 are driven, and the pen 15 is moved to draw a trace on the paper 26. A desired drawing is created by repeating this operation.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional plotter device, it is necessary to fix the paper 26 within the plane of the drawing table 27 included in the plotter device, so that the size of the paper that can be drawn is limited. In addition, since the plotter device includes the drafting table 27, there is a drawback that the space occupied by the plotter device also increases in proportion to the size of the paper on which plotting is possible.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A plotter device of the present invention includes a plotting pen, first and second stepping motors that rotate around horizontal and vertical axes according to drawing data, and the first first and second stepping motors. A horizontally moving sphere by the rotation of the stepping motor, a direction control means for changing the moving direction of the sphere by the rotation of the second stepping motor, and a pen up-and-down means for moving the pen up and down according to the drawing on / off data. I have it.

[0006]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 (a) and 1 (b) are a side view and a top view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of this embodiment, and FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are this embodiment. 3 is a side view and a top view of an example. FIG. 1 (a) and 1 (b), reference numeral 1 indicates a chassis which is a base of each part of the plotter device.
a, 2b, 2c and 2d are rubber balls of the same outer shape that rotate around a horizontal rotation axis when the plotter device moves,
3a, 3b, 3c and 3d are stepping motors having the same specifications for rotating the rubber balls 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d, and 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d are stepping motors 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d, respectively. ,
Bearings 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d that change the traveling direction of the plotter device by rotating about a vertical rotation axis are provided.
Have the same outer shape, and the bearings 4a, 4b,
The pulleys 6a, 5b, 5 are fixed to 4c and 4d, and 6 is a pulley that rotates in a state in which the rotating shaft is also vertical.
The belts 7a, 5b, 5c, 5d and 7 rotate the bearings 4a around the vertical rotation axis, and use the belts 6c and 5d to transmit the rotations in synchronization with each other. Bearings 4b, 4c and 4
The stepping motor that rotates d simultaneously, 8 is a pen that leaves a trace on the paper, 9 is fixed to the pen 8, current is applied, and the attraction force to the chassis 1 acts to make the pen 8
Is a solenoid for contacting the tip of the paper with the paper, 10 is a spring for giving a repulsive force for separating the pen 8 from the paper while no current is flowing through the solenoid 9, and 11 is fixed on a flat surface of a desk or the like, and is a drawing target of the plotter device. The following shows the respective sheets. Further, reference numeral 12 in FIG. 22 is a relay for controlling the current of the solenoid 9, and 13 is a plotter for controlling the solenoid 9 via the relay 12 and controlling the stepping motor 7 and the stepping motors 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d. The reference numeral 14 denotes a control unit for performing the drawing operation of the apparatus, and 14 denotes a computer system for sending data for drawing to the plotter apparatus to perform the drawing.

The drawing data from the computer system 14 during operation is composed of an instruction for contacting or separating the pen 8 and the paper 11, a movement amount in the X direction from the current position, and a movement amount in the Y direction. To be done. The plotter operation according to this drawing data will be described.

When an instruction to contact the pen 8 and the paper 11 or an instruction to separate the pen 8 and the paper 11 is received, the control unit 13 causes the current of the solenoid 9 to flow through the relay 12 in accordance with the former and causes the pen 8 to operate. The pen 8 is raised by the repulsive force of the spring by lowering and stopping the current in accordance with the latter. 3A and 3B show a state in which the pen 8 is lowered. A = (number of pulses for one rotation of the stepping motor 7) / 2π × (tan ⁻¹ (Y
Direction movement amount / X direction movement amount) -current traveling direction), B =
(The number of pulses of the stepping motor 3a in units of the amount of movement of the plotter device) × (the amount of movement in the X direction ² + the amount of movement in the Y direction ² ) ^1/2 , and the control unit 13 instructs the stepping motor 7 to have the number of pulses = A The pulse number of B is output to the stepping motors 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d. The rotation of the stepping motor 7 indicates a direction change, and the stepping motors 3a, 3a
Rotation of b, 3c and 3d indicates movement in that direction. FIG. 3B shows a state in which the plotter device has changed direction.
When leaving a locus on the paper, the pen 8 may be moved in a desired direction with the pen 8 lowered.

Thus, the computer system 14
A desired figure can be drawn by repeating the transfer of drawing data from the printer to the plotter device.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the plotter device with the pen moving means physically separated from the drawing table, the plane for fixing the paper is not limited. The size of the paper that can be printed is not limited, and since the plotter device does not include a drawing table, the space that it occupies is reduced compared to the conventional plotter device.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are a side view and a top view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

3A and 3B are a side view and a top view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a conventional plotter device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 chassis 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d rubber balls 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d stepping motors 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d bearings 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d pulley 6 belt 7 stepping motor 8 pen 9 solenoid 10 spring 11 paper 12 Relay 13 Control circuit 14 Computer system 15 Pen 16 Pen support 17 Stepping motor 18 Pulley 19 Pulley 21 Support 22 Stepping motor 23 Pulley 24 Pulley 25 Belt 26 Paper 27 Drawing stand

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plotting pen, and first and second pens that rotate around horizontal and vertical axes according to drawing data.
Stepping motor, a sphere horizontally moved by rotation of the first stepping motor, direction control means for changing the moving direction of the sphere by rotation of the second stepping motor, and the pen according to drawing on / off data. A plotter device comprising: a pen up / down means for moving up and down.