JPS62178368A - Automotive printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the automotive printer capable of easily printing out the graphic traced based on graphic data, by a method wherein a wheel is rotatively driven after reading the graphic data and the graphic of the same form as that of graphic is drawn. CONSTITUTION:A printer body 1 is set at a home position so that a reflective type photosensor 7 overlaps with a black direct part Q at a starting position. MPU 11 makes all luminous elements 8 emit light herein via a LED drive circuit 21. MPU 11 makes the printer body 1 travel on wheels 3, 3. The infrared ray emitted from each luminous element 8 is reflected on a graphic and respectively is projected upon each luminous element 9 facing the element 8 to be received. The received reflected infrared ray is converted into an electric signal, respec tively inputted to a comparator 25 via an amplifier circuit 23 and a waveform shaping circuit 24 and respectively compared with a specified voltage for each channel. MPU 11 analyzes the shape of the graphic, controls the left and right wheels 3, 3 and determines the number of pulse that permits a pen part 5 always to pass on the graphic l. This number of pulses are stored into RAM 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an autonomous mobile printer that automatically tracks a figure to create figure data and outputs this figure data to draw a figure.

[Prior Art and its Problems] Conventionally, in a device that traces a figure or the like and prints it on a separate sheet of paper, the figure data of the figure or the like is read in advance by an operator using a digitizer or key operations. The read graphic data is stored in the RAM, and the graphic data is first read out from the RAM and automatically printed out on paper.

However, such conventional autonomous mobile printers rely on manual input when inputting one figure.

It takes time and effort, has low work efficiency, and has become a complicated task to trace figures.

[Object of the Invention] This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to automatically and accurately trace a figure, store figure data, and trace a figure based on the figure data. The purpose is to provide an autonomous mobile printer that can easily print out.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention uses an optical sensor consisting of a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element provided in the main body of the printer, and traces a figure by rotating a pair of wheels based on the output of the sensor. The printer is equipped with a drive control means and a storage means for storing the number of rotations of each wheel at this time as graphic data, and the printer body is moved according to the stored number of rotations of each wheel to print out the figure. The main point is that.

Configuration of Example] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1.2 is a plan view and a side view of the exterior of the autonomous mobile printer of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of the autonomous mobile printer.

A drawing with graphic text is placed on the drafting table P''2, and the printer body is movably placed on this drawing. At the bottom of the casing 2 of the printer main body 1, a pair of wheels 3, 3 are provided so as to be separated from each other. Pole casters to stabilize the 4.
4 are arranged rotatably, respectively, and a pen part 5 is provided between the wheels 3 and 3 so as to be movable up and down. A pen nib 6 is attached to the center of the pen part 5, and when the pen part 5 is lowered, the pen nib 6 comes into contact with the paper on the drafting board ph, and the rotation of the wheels 3 moves the printer main body l to move the paper onto the paper. I am now able to draw shapes.

At the bottom of the casing 2 and in front of the wheel 3.3, a plurality (9) of reflective photosensors 7 are arranged in a direction parallel to the axis of the wheel 3.3, and each reflective photosensor 7 Each device is composed of a light emitting element 8 and a light receiving element 9.

The light emitted from the light emitting element 8 is reflected from the blank area and graphic text on the drawing and is incident on the light receiving element 9.
The light reflected from the white paper causes the light receiving element 9 to generate a high output voltage. Nine such sets of light emitting elements 8 and light receiving elements 9
are arranged side by side in the width direction of the printer main body l.

In Fig. 3, 11 is an MPU (micro processor unit), and the MPU II has a program ROM.
12. A data storage RAM 13 is connected via a pass line.

A motor drive circuit 14 is connected to the MPU II via a pass line. Motor wIAfh circuit 14 is DC motor 1
5 to control the rotation. The rotational force of the DC motor 15 is transmitted to a gear mechanism 16, and the gear mechanism 16 moves the pen unit 5 up and down.

Another motor drive circuit 18 is connected to the MPU II via a pass line, and the motor drive circuit 18 rotates and controls a pair of pulse motors 19 and 19 that control the steering mechanism of the printer main body l.

The rotational force of each pulse motor 19 is transmitted to a gear mechanism 20.20, and each gear mechanism 20.20 rotationally drives each wheel 3.3. The motor drive circuit 18 can independently control the rotation of each pulse motor 19 and 19 to change the direction of the printer main body 1, and also
9.19 drive pulses are sent to RAM1 via MPUII.
3 is stored.

Next, the MPUII has LEDs! ! A dynamic circuit 21 is connected via a pass line, and the LED driving circuit drives the nine light emitting elements 8 forming the photosensor 7 to emit light. These light emitting elements 8 are constituted by infrared light emitting diodes, and the infrared light emitted from each light emitting element 8 is reflected from the drawing and enters each of the light receiving elements 9, respectively.

Each light receiving element 9 generates a voltage upon receiving light, and its output signal is input to an amplifier circuit 23 and amplified for each channel. Each channel output signal of the amplifier circuit 23 is waveform-shaped by a waveform shaping circuit 24, and input to a comparison circuit 25 for each channel.

The comparison circuit 25 compares the signal of each channel with a predetermined signal level to determine which photosensor 7 faces the blank paper and which photosensor 7 faces the figure. Then, the comparison judgment information is sent to the MPU 1l. MPU1
1 independently drives and controls the pulse motors 19 and 19 via the motor drive circuit 18 based on this comparative judgment information, and independently rotates the left and right wheels 3 so that the pen tip 6 always passes through the center of the graphic sentence. Control.

[Operation of the Embodiment] Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.5 and FIGS. 6 and 7.

First, reading of graphic data by tracing (tracking) a graphic will be explained with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 6(1) and 6(2), the drawing is spread out on a drafting table P and the printer body 1 is placed thereon. A straight line Q, which is a black part, is drawn at the starting point, and the printer body 1 is set to the home position (H, P) so that the reflective photosensor 7 overlaps this straight line Q (step S1).
At this time, the pen portion 5 is raised via the motor drive circuit 14, the DC motor 15, and the gear mechanism 16, and the pen tip 6 is moved away from the drawing. Here, the MPU II causes all the light emitting elements 8 to emit light via the LED drive circuit 21 (step S2), and at this time, all the photosensors 7 are outputting a low voltage.

Next, in step S3, the MPU II causes the printer body 1 to run on wheels 3.3 via the motor drive circuit 18, pulse motor 19.19, and gear mechanism 20.20. Infrared light emitted from each light emitting element 8 is reflected from the drawing, and is received by each corresponding light receiving element 9, respectively. The strength of the received reflected infrared light is converted into an electrical signal and sent to the amplifier circuit 23.
The signals are amplified for each channel, shaped into waveforms by a waveform shaping circuit 24, input to a comparison circuit 25, and compared with a predetermined voltage for each channel. In step S4, the MPU II analyzes the comparison results of each channel of the comparison circuit, analyzes the shape of one figure, and compares both wheels 3.3.
For example, as shown in FIG. 7 (1), which is an enlarged version of FIG. The output voltage of the reflective base photosensor 7 at the f position and the g position decreases compared to the previous voltage. From these data, the MPU II determines that the graphic sentence is curved to the right, and controls the left and right wheels 3.3 to determine the respective number of pulses so that the pen unit 5 always passes through the graphic pattern. Each wheel 3.3 rotates according to the number of pulses, and the pen unit 5 traces the figure. Here, since the pen tip 6 of the pen unit 5 is separated (lags) from the reflective photosensor 7 by a distance gIL, each wheel 3.3 corresponds to the distance after the reflective photosensor 7 detects the right curve. It is calculated that after increasing the number of rotations (pulses) by that amount, the wheels 3 are controlled to turn to the right.

For example, Fig. 7 (2), which is an enlarged version of Fig. 6 (2), shows a case where the geometrical intersection is bent at a right angle or at a sharp angle close to the straight line, and the output voltage was previously high. ,g
, h and i positions all exhibit low output voltages. At this time, the MPU II moves the printer body 1 forward by the distance, rotates the rear wheels 3.3 to the right at the same speed, turns the printer body 1 90 degrees to the right, and causes the pen unit 5 to follow the graphic text.

Further, FIG. 7(3) shows a case where the graphic pattern has a slight bend, and in this case, the reflection type photosensor 7 at the positions d, e, and f exceeds the disassembly of the wheel 3. Although the output voltage of the printer changes slightly, the MPDLL ignores this and causes the printer main body 1 to move straight.

As described above, the pen unit 5 of the printer body 1 always tracks directly above the graphic text, and the number of pulses that the MPU 1 gives to each pulse motor 19 via the motor drive circuit 18 at this time is always stored in the RAM 13 in step S5. It has been done.

Finally, all the reflective photosensors 7 output low voltage signals, reach the home position, and end the tracking (step S6). t56 In the case of the figures shown in FIGS. (1) and (2), unless the home position is reached, the MPU II drives the wheels 3 to follow or delay the figure, so the process returns to step S3 and steps 53 to S6 are repeated.

In this way, the graphic data traced over the entire area of the graphic is stored in the RAM 13 as the number of pulses given to each pulse motor 19.

Next, the operation of reading out the traced and input graphic data and printing it out on a new drawing sheet will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Spread the drawing paper and place it on the drafting table P, and set the printer main body l on it to the home position (H, P), that is, an appropriate starting point (step S7), MPUI l is RA
The graphic data to be applied to the left and right wheels 3.3 is read from M13, and each equivalent number of pulses is output to the motor drive circuit 18 (step S8). The motor drive circuit 18 supplies predetermined drive pulses to the left and right pulse motors 19 and 19, respectively. , and each pulse motor 19.19 drives the left and right wheels 3.3, respectively.

At this time, the motor drive circuit 14,
DC motor 15. The pen portion 5 is lowered via the gear mechanism 16, and the pen tip 6 is brought into contact with the drawing paper. In this way, the printer body 1 moves on the drawing paper by itself by being steered by the left and right wheels 3, 3, and draws figures with the pen unit 5 until the figure data in the RAM 13 is exhausted (step S9).

Note that if the graphic data in the RAM 13 can be processed by the MPU II, it is also possible to draw a graphic that has been tracked and inputted in an enlarged or reduced size.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above in detail, the present invention includes wheels for moving and steering a moving body, a plurality of optical sensors provided on the moving body for detecting a figure and outputting a figure signal, and a plurality of optical sensors that detect a figure and output a figure signal. It is equipped with a drive control means that rotationally drives the wheels to track the figure so that the signal is always at a predetermined value, and a storage means that stores the number of revolutions of the driven wheel as figure data, and the figure is recorded by an optical sensor. By automatically tracing, reading and creating figure data, storing it in a storage means, and reading out this figure data to draw a figure, inputting figure data can be done quickly and easily, and tracing work can be simplified. This has the effect of being simple. Therefore, it became possible to quickly and freely copy, reduce, and enlarge a single figure.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an autonomous mobile printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an autonomous mobile printer according to the present invention. FIG. 4.5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation, and FIG. 6.7 is a diagram for explaining the operation. l... Printer body, 3... Wheels, 5
...Pen section, 7...Reflection type photo sensor, 11...MPU, 12...ROM
, 13...RAM, 18...Motor drive circuit, 19...Pulse motor, 21...
...LED drive circuit, 25...comparison circuit. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 5 Figure 4 Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] Wheels for advancing and steering a moving body; a plurality of optical sensors provided on the moving body for detecting a figure and outputting a figure signal; and rotating the wheels so that the figure signal always remains at a predetermined value. and a storage means for storing the number of revolutions of the driven wheel as graphic data, and reads out the graphic data and rotationally drives the wheel to generate a graphic having the same shape as the graphic. An autonomous mobile printer that draws images.