JPS60230269A - Interactive plotter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To soften the sense of incongruity to be felt by a user of drafter, by displaying a scale marked with degrees, on a CRT, and making it movable in parallel and rotatable on the scope of the CRT. CONSTITUTION:A computer 1 is constituted of a CPU11, memory 12 and an input/output interface 13. A CRT controller 3 draws a straight line, curve, character, numeral, etc. on a CRT4 in accordance with an instruction of the computer 1, and a tablet digitizer 5 is used not only for a coordinate indication and a menu indication but for a drafter scale operation. An orthogonal scale displayed on the CRT4 can execute parallel movement or rotation on the CRT scope.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] A. ``Object of the Invention'' [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a so-called interactive drawing device (hereinafter simply referred to as a CAD device) that creates drawings etc. with the help of a computer. This invention relates to improvements in display means (omitted).

(Prior art) CA D We Mte uses a CRT as a drawing board to create drawings, but in order to make it easier to recognize the exact position on the screen, there are Figure 2 (a) is an example of displaying grid points on the CR1 screen, and Figure 2 (b) is an example of displaying grid lines. This is an example of how the grid and construction lines can be displayed.However, the grid and construction lines are rough (and the numbers on the scale are displayed (not blank), so it is difficult to draw only by specifying coordinates with the cursor. can be,
Frequent manual input of numerical coordinates (keyboard operations) is required.

On the other hand, a conventional designer (or drafter) uses a section vapor and a ruler or a drafter and performs work while recognizing the scale (with numerical values) of the ruler.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) Designers using conventional handwritten designs feel uncomfortable operating CAD devices, and it takes a long time to become proficient, and for six months to a year, there are no benefits of introducing CAD devices. It is not uncommon for this to not occur.Furthermore, some people are unable to utilize their high level of design ability with CAD equipment due to an allergy to CAD equipment.

The present invention has been made in view of these points,
Its purpose is an interactive drawing device (CAD device) designed to alleviate as much as possible the discomfort felt by users of conventional drafters.
Our goal is to provide the following.

``Structure of the Invention'' (Means for Solving Problems) The present invention comprises a CRT for displaying figures, characters, etc., a keyboard for inputting characters, numbers, etc. into the device, and a keyboard for inputting coordinates and menu instructions. A computer that controls the entire device, and a CRT controller that can draw straight lines, curves, characters, numbers, etc. on a CRT according to instructions from this computer. etc., a graduated scale is displayed on the CRT, and this is displayed on the CRT.
This is an interactive drawing device characterized by being able to translate and rotate on the T screen.

[Effect]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a CRT of an interactive drawing device according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, in the interactive plotting apparatus according to the present invention, an orthogonal scale with graduations is displayed on one side of the CRT. This orthogonal scale can be translated or rotated on the CRT screen using a device such as a tablet digitizer, which will be described later. The display of this orthogonal scale, parallel movement and rotation of the orthogonal scale, etc. can be easily realized by using conventional techniques. That is, the orthogonal scale can be displayed on the CRT in accordance with instructions from the CRT controller, which will be described later, in the same manner as normal straight lines and curves are displayed.

[Example] An example embodying the present invention will be described below. The present invention is not significantly different from conventional interactive drawing devices, except that the scale of a drafter, which is a drawing device, is displayed on a CRT screen and can be moved and operated on the CRT. That is, the present invention is not characterized by the individual components of the CAD device itself, but by the fact that it is devised to produce the functions described above. Therefore, although the simple external configuration of the device of the embodiment shown below exists in conventional devices, the technical idea including the functions embodied in the interactive drawing device is new and useful.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a computer 1 is composed of a central processing unit 11 (hereinafter simply referred to as CPU), a memory 12, and an input/output interface 13.

A disk 2 stores various programs for the normal operation of the CAD device. 3 is a CRT controller, which controls the CRT according to instructions from computer 1.
It involves drawing straight lines, curved lines, nine letters, numbers, etc. The latest practice is to incorporate a microprocessor here and use its software to perform display-related processing, in which case the processing of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is performed here. Reference numeral 5 denotes a tablet digitizer, which is used not only to specify coordinates and menu instructions in a normal CAD@ position, but also to operate the drafter scale of the present invention. This tablet digitizer 5 will be described later using FIG. 5. 6 is the keyboard and letters.

This is for inputting numerical values, etc. 7 is a plotter, which outputs the plotting results on paper.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the configuration functions of the tablet digitizer 5 shown in FIG. 4. The functions of this tablet digitizer 5 are as follows.

Window Lock Function: FIG. 6 shows the relationship between a drafter, which is a conventional drafting device, and a CRT screen in the device of the present invention. As shown in Figure 6,
Generally, moving the scale corresponds to moving the window. However, on the screen of the CRT 4 of the CAD device, the position of the scale display does not change, creating a sense of discomfort. To prevent this, fix the window and set the scale to C.
This is a function that allows you to move on RT.

scale; This is a function to turn on/off the scale display.

Cursor: A function that switches the tablet digitizer to a normal drawing cursor.

rotate; This is a function to rotate and display the right angle scale.

The rotation angle is specified by specifying the position of the right arrow shown in FIG.

Expansion/contraction: A function to expand/contract the right angle scale. The magnification is specified by specifying the position of the right arrow shown in FIG.

With the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 configured as described above, a rectangular scale as shown in FIG. 1 can be displayed on the CRT. Then, using the tablet digitizer shown in Figure 5,
When the cursor is moved, the rectangular scale is rotated in conjunction with this movement or by numerical input, and the rotation angle is displayed on the CRT as shown in FIG.

Further, the orthogonal scale is moved in parallel in conjunction with the above-mentioned cursor or by numerical input. Then, the origin coordinates of the orthogonal scale relative to the drawing origin are as shown in Figure 1.
displayed above.

Further, the scale interval of the rectangular scale is expanded or contracted in conjunction with the cursor of the tablet digitizer or by numerical input, and at the same time, thinning/interpolation is automatically performed so that the scale interval falls within the range of the minimum scale interval.

Note that instead of using a tablet digitizer to rotate the scale, a rotary dial may be used to improve the similarity to a drafter.

Further, in order to increase the similarity with the drafter, the scale length may be made constant.

Further, in the above description, a right-angled scale was used as an example of a scale to be displayed on a CRT, but the present invention is not limited to a right-angled scale, and a normal linear scale may be used.

[Effects of the present invention]

There are two types of drawing work using a CAD device: design from a blank page81 and editing design.In the latter case, the old drawings are displayed on a CRT and the work begins, making it easier to recognize the position on the drawing and making it easier for conventional designers to It doesn't make you feel any discomfort.

However, when designing from a blank sheet of paper, the small size of the CRT screen makes it difficult to grasp the correspondence with the position on the paper, and without a draft, it becomes difficult to work with a CAD device. Moreover, in this case, it is difficult to indicate the exact position with the cursor, and the work must be done by entering numerical values from the keyboard. There is a drawing method that involves inputting a rough shape and then inputting dimension values to obtain an accurate shape, but this method can only be used for simple contour changes.

The interactive drawing device according to the present invention simulates a drafter that is normally used by designers, and is relatively comfortable to use. This is especially effective when designing from scratch.

Furthermore, since the drawing function and display function are similar to those of a normal CAD device, it is easy to add the functions of the present invention to a conventional CAD device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a CRT display of an interactive plotting device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is a diagram showing an example of displaying grid points on a CRT screen in a conventional device, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of displaying draft lines in a conventional device; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of the configuration functions of the tablet digitizer 5 shown in FIG.
It is a figure showing the relationship with a screen. 1...Computer, 2...Disk, 3...C
RT controller, 4...CRT, 5...tablet 1-digitizer, 6...keyboard, 7...plotter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A CRT that displays figures, characters, etc., a keyboard that inputs characters, numbers, etc. to the device, a tablet digitizer that gives coordinate instructions and menu code instructions, and a computer that controls the entire device; A CRT controller capable of drawing straight lines, curves, letters, numbers, etc. on T according to instructions from the computer, and an apparatus for creating drawings, etc. with the help of a computer, wherein scales are placed on the CRT. Display the scale and change it to C
An interactive drawing device characterized by being able to perform parallel translation and rotation on an RT screen.