JPH0820195A - Guiding device for rail carriage in pen lettering machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance precision of drawing figures in a pen lettering machine. CONSTITUTION:Rail carriages are provided in both ends of a guide rail supporting a pen carriage. A rotating shaft 28 is axially supported on a pair of rail carriages 26. A roller 29 and a pinion gear 30 are respectively fitted to both ends of the rotating shaft 28. A pair of rack rails 31 provided parallel to a base frame 32 are respectively engaged with the pinion gear 30 from the upper part. The roller 29 is rolled on the base frame 32 and the rail carriages 26 provided in both ends of the guide rail are synchronously traveled. The rack rails 31 are pressed in contact with the base frame 32 by a gib-headed pin 53 and a compression coil spring 54 and elevated or lowered in accordance with fluctuation of the vertical position of the pinion gear 30 depending on the tolerance of flatness of the base frame 32 and an unevenness of the base frame 32 is absorbed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pen lettering machine for writing characters and symbols on a drawing or the like under computer control, and more particularly to a rail carriage guide device for the pen lettering machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional rail carriage guide device for a pen lettering machine will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 shows a pen lettering machine 1, in which a pair of rack rails 3 and 3 are arranged on the left and right of a frame 2 in the Y direction. Racks 3a are engraved on the lower surface of the rack rails 3 and 3, and are installed on the base frame 2 via leg portions 3b and 3b provided at both front and rear ends. The rail carriages 4, 5 engaging with the rack rails 3, 3 are connected by a guide rail 6 in the X direction, and a rotation shaft 7 parallel to the guide rail 6 penetrates the left and right rail carriages 4, 5.
Rollers 8 and 8 and pinion gears 9 and 9 having a diameter smaller than that of the rollers 8 are fitted to both ends of the rotary shaft 7 so that the left and right rollers 8 and 8 and the pinion gears 9 and 9 are interlocked.

As shown in FIG. 5, the roller 8 is in contact with the upper surface of the base frame 2, and the pinion gear 9 meshes with the rack 3a of the upper rack rail 3 so that the rail carriages 4 and 5 are connected.
The vertical movement of is regulated. As shown in FIG. 4, front and rear gear pulleys 10 and 11 are axially supported near one of the rack rails 3 (left in FIG. 4).
The timing belt 12 is mounted on 0 and 11, and one point of the timing belt 12 is fixed to the rail carriage 4. The front pulley 11 is driven by the Y-axis drive motor 14 via the second timing belt 13, and the rail carriage 4 engaged with the timing belt 12 moves along the guide groove 15. At this time, the roller 8 rolls on the base frame 2, and the pinion gear 9 meshed with the rack 3 a of the rack rail 3 rotates in conjunction with the other pinion gear 9 connected via the rotary shaft 7. Are linked to each other, the left and right rail carriages 4 and 5 travel on the base frame 2 in synchronization.

[0004]

A conventional rail carriage in which a pinion gear is provided coaxially with a grounded roller on a base frame, and a rack installed on the base frame is meshed with the pinion gear to synchronize the left and right rollers and the pinion gear. For the support device, the accuracy of the spacing between the roller rolling surface of the base frame and the rack on the base frame is important.If the spacing is too large, the backlash between the pinion gear and the rack becomes large and the running noise increases. , The drawing accuracy deteriorates. On the other hand, if the gap is narrow, the rotational resistance of the pinion gear and rollers will increase, and the wear of the rolling surfaces of the pinion gear and the rack and base frame will be accelerated by an excessive running load. Displacement occurs between the designated position and defective drawing, which causes inconvenience. However, when using a base frame molded by, for example, plastic injection molding or aluminum extrusion, it is difficult to control the flatness tolerance of the frame surface to a certain value or less, and the surface grinding of the roller rolling surface is difficult. It often requires processing, which causes an increase in production cost.

Therefore, there is a technical problem to be solved in order to improve productivity and to improve drawing accuracy and durability without requiring an additional step, and the present invention solves the above problems. To aim.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is proposed in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, and a rail carriage is fixed to both ends of a guide rail with which a pen carriage is engaged. At the both ends of the rotary shaft, the rollers and pinion gears are fitted to the both ends of the rotary shaft respectively, and the leg portions are provided at the front and rear ends of the rack rail having the rack carved on the lower surface. The rack rails are installed in parallel on a base frame, the guide rails are arranged between the pair of rack rails to ground the rollers to the base frame, and the pinion gears are respectively meshed with the racks of the rack rails. In a rail carriage guide device of a pen lettering machine having a rail carriage synchronization mechanism, the legs of the rack rail are connected to the legs. And a shaft such as a pin with a head or a screw is loosely inserted into the hole to fix the shaft to the base frame, and a spring is interposed between the head of the shaft and the rack rail. Thus, the rail carriage guide device of the pen lettering device is characterized in that the rack rail is pressed against the base frame and the rack rail is held so as to be able to float.

[0007]

The rail carriage is fixed to both ends of the guide rail on which the pen carriage is movably mounted.
A rotary shaft is installed on the rail carriages at both ends, and rollers and pinion gears are fitted to both ends of the rotary shaft, respectively. The roller is grounded to the base frame, a rack rail is installed above the roller rolling surface, the rack provided on the lower surface of the rack rail faces the base frame, and the rack meshes with the pinion gear of the rail carriage from above. The vertical position of the rail carriage is regulated by the base frame and the rack rail, and the rail carriage can travel in the front-rear direction. Both ends of the rack rail are fixed to the base frame by pins or the like and springs, and are pressed against the base frame by the bias of the springs interposed between the heads of the pins and the rack rail.

When the rail carriage and the guide rail travel, the roller and the pinion gear connected by the rotating shaft rotate in synchronization with each other, and the guide rail and the pair of rail carriages travel along the rack rail. At this time, the pinion gear pushes up the rack rail against the bias of the spring at the portion where the distance between the roller rolling surface of the base frame and the rack is reduced due to the warp of the base frame, so that the roller and the pinion gear move. The rail carriage travels smoothly and with high accuracy without being overloaded.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. For convenience of description, technical matters that are conventionally known will be described at the same time. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the outer casing of the pen lettering machine 21 is removed, and a pen carriage 23 having a pen arm 22 pivotably pivoted up and down has two guide rollers 24 at the rear and one at the front (not shown). No)
The guide rollers 24, 24, 24 are axially mounted and engage with the front and rear edges of the guide rail 25 in the X direction. Rail guides 26 are provided on both left and right ends of the guide rail 25.
27 is fixed, and rollers 29 and 29 are provided at both ends of a rotary shaft 28 which is supported by the left and right rail carriages 26 and 27, respectively.
And the pinion gears 30, 30 are fitted.

A pair of left and right rack rails 31 and 31 for guiding the rail carriages 26 and 27 are provided on the bottom surface with a rack 31a.
Is attached to the base frame 32 via the leg portions 31b at the front and rear ends, and floats from the base frame 32. The rail carriage 26,
The 27 pinion gears 30, 30 are meshed with each other. Therefore, the rail carriages 26 and 27 have a base frame 32 with which the rollers 29 and 29 are in contact, a pinion gear 30,
The vertical movement is restricted by the rack rails 31 and 31 that mesh with the upper portion 30 so that it can move in parallel in the Y direction on the base frame 32. Note that reference numeral 33 is a writing instrument attached to the pen arm 22.

Further, the left and right rail carriages 26, 27
Gear pulleys 34, 35 are attached to the pen carriage 23, and the pen carriage 23 is coupled to the X-axis timing belt 36 mounted on the left and right gear pulleys 34, 35. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the gear pulley 34 rotatably fitted to the left rail carriage 26 in FIG.
A center hole 34a having a cross section is opened, and an X drive shaft 37 having the same D shape as the center hole 34a has a rail carriage 26.
And is loosely fitted in the center hole 34a of the gear pulley 34.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front and rear end portions of the X drive shaft 37 are bearings 38, 38 provided upright on the base frame 32.
The timing belt 42 is mounted on the gear pulley 39 and the gear pulley 41 of the X-axis drive motor 40, which are supported by the. Further, the Y-axis timing belt 44 mounted on the gear pulleys 43, 43 provided on the front and rear bearings 38, 38 is coupled to the rail carriage 26 and is coaxial with the front (upper in the figure) gear pulley 43. By driving 45 by the Y-axis drive motor 47 via the timing belt 46, the rail carriage 26 fixed to the Y-axis timing belt 44 runs in the Y direction along the X drive shaft 37. At this time, the left and right pinion gears 30 connected by the rotary shaft 28,
By rotating 30 synchronously, the left and right rail carriages 26 and 27 travel in conjunction with the rails 33 and 33 and the rack rails 31 and 31, and the guide rail 2
5 moves in parallel.

On the other hand, when the X-axis drive motor 40 is driven, X
The drive shaft 37 rotates, the gear pulley 34 of the rail carriage 26 loosely fitted to the X drive shaft 37 rotates in conjunction, and the pen carriage 23 coupled to the X-axis timing belt 36.
Guide rail 2 in conjunction with X-axis timing belt 36
Drive over 5.

A lift lever 48 is provided between the front portions of the rack rails 31 and 31, and in a standby state, the lift lever 48 is pressed against the lower surface of the pen arm 22 by the biasing force of a spring 49 to raise the pen arm 22. I am letting you. The lift lever 48 is connected to a solenoid actuator 51 via a cable 50, and when the solenoid actuator 51 is turned on, the lift lever 4 is turned on.
8, the pen arm 22 is lowered by the biasing force of the spring 52 provided on the pen carriage 23, and the writing instrument 33 is pressed against the paper surface.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rack rail 31 includes:
Holes 31c, 31 that vertically pass through the leg portions 31b at both ends
c is perforated, a head pin 53 is loosely inserted into the holes 31c, 31c, and the head pin 53, 53 is attached to the base frame 32. The headed pin 53 is longer than the entire height of the rack rail 31, and has a screw portion 53a formed at the lower end.
Is fixed to the base frame 32 by screwing, and the head 53b
A compression coil spring 54 is interposed between the rack rail 31 and the rack rail 31. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rack rail 3
1 is pressed against the base frame 32 by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 54, and can be lifted while maintaining a parallel posture to the base frame 32 when an external force in a rising direction is applied. Therefore, the rail carriages 26, 2
7, the rack rail 31 is pushed up by the pinion gear 30 in accordance with the vertical displacement of the rail carriages 26, 27 due to the warp of the base frame 32, and the influence of the warp of the base frame 32 is absorbed, so that the pinion gear and the rack mesh with each other. The pressure is limited to a certain value or less, and the rail carriage can travel extremely smoothly.

It should be noted that the present invention should not be limited to the above-mentioned one embodiment, and it is obvious that various modifications can be made within the technical scope of the present invention, and the present invention is a modification thereof. It goes without saying that

[0017]

As described in detail in the above one embodiment, the present invention is configured so that the rack rail is engaged with the synchronizing pinion gear of the rail carriage from above so that the rollers of the rail carriage roll on the base frame. In the pen lettering machine, since the rack rail is attached to the base frame via the spring, the rack rail moves up and down to absorb the fluctuation of the contact pressure between the pinion gear and the rack caused by the flatness tolerance of the base frame. Therefore, unlike the conventional rack rail fixed,
Tolerance of the flatness of the base frame does not affect the running resistance and position accuracy of the rail carriage,
This improves the printing accuracy and prevents the wear of running mechanism and running noise, which is effective in improving the printing quality and durability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pen lettering machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the rail carriage guide device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pen lettering machine showing a conventional example.

5 is a front view of the rail carriage guide device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Pen Lettering Machine 22 Pen Arm 23 Pen Carriage 25 Guide Rail 26, 27 Rail Carriage 28 Rotating Shaft 29 Roller 30 Pinion Gear 31 Rack Rail 31a Rack 31b Leg 31c Hole 32 Base Frame 36 X Axis Timing Belt 37 X Drive Axis 44 Y Axis Timing Belt 53 Pin with head 53b Head 54 Compression coil spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rail carriage (2) is provided at both ends of a guide rail (25) with which a pen carriage (23) is engaged.
6 and 27) and fix the pair of rail carriages (2
6, 27) rotatably supports both end portions of the rotary shaft (28), fits the roller (29) and the pinion gear (30) to both end portions of the rotary shaft (28), and attaches a rack ( 31a) is provided with leg portions (31b, 31b) at both ends of a rack rail (31), and the pair of rack rails (31, 31) are installed in parallel on a base frame (32). The guide rail (25) is arranged between the rack rails (31, 31) of the roller (29).
Are grounded to the base frame (32), and the pinion gears (30) are meshed with the racks (31a) of the rack rails (31), respectively.
27) In the rail carriage guide device of the pen lettering machine having the synchronization mechanism of 27), the rack rail (3
A hole (31c) vertically penetrating the leg portion (31b) is provided in the leg portion (31b) of 1), and a shaft such as a pin with a head (53) or a screw is loosely inserted into the hole (31c). Is fixed to the base frame (32), and a spring (5) is attached to the head portion (53b) of the shaft and the rack rail (31).
4) A rail carriage guide device for a pen lettering machine, characterized in that the rack rail (31) is press-contacted to the base frame (32) through the interposition and the rack rail (31) is held so as to be able to float. .