JPS626252B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plotter, and more specifically, in a plotter that uses paper with marks for displaying at least coordinate axes, the present invention relates to a plotter in which the coordinate axes of the paper and the coordinate axes of the plotter are relatively tilted. The drawing operation is made to be performed along the paper coordinate axis even when the paper is

A plotter is a type of computer output terminal device. In such printers, as paper,
At least one with marks indicating the coordinate axes may be used. By the way, when using paper with marks that display such coordinate axes, if the paper coordinate axes and plotter coordinate axes are tilted relative to each other, the drawn image will be tilted with respect to the paper coordinate axes, which is undesirable. .

The present invention solves these drawbacks and will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a plotter according to the present invention, in which 10 is paper, 20 is a pen, and 30
is the pen support mechanism. The paper 10 has a plurality of marks M ₁ to _{M 4} for displaying orthogonal coordinate axes x and y.
is attached. The pen 20 has a pen support mechanism 30
It is disposed on the pen support mechanism 30 so as to be movable along the longitudinal direction (hereinafter referred to as the Y direction). The pen support mechanism 30 is arranged on the paper 10 so as to be movable in the X direction orthogonal to the Y direction. Near both ends of the surface of the pen support mechanism 30 facing the paper 10,
Light sources LP ₁ , LP ₂ and image sensors IS ₁ , IS ₂ are provided for detecting marks M attached to paper 10 . FIG. 2 is a simplified structural explanatory diagram showing a specific example of such a pen support mechanism 30.

The operation of the plotter configured in this way will be explained.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation, and FIG.
Parts equivalent to those in the figure are given the same reference numerals. In FIG. 3, the paper 10 is arranged so as to form an inclination angle θ between its coordinate axes x, y and the plotter coordinate axes X, Y. In this state, by scanning the pen support mechanism 30 along the X direction, the inclination angle θ between the paper coordinate axes x, y and the plotter coordinate axes X, Y becomes θ=
It is determined as tan ^-1 a ₁ /b ₁ . After determining the inclination angle θ in this manner, the mechanical origin of the pen support mechanism 30 is determined to be the position of the mark M ₁ detected by the sensor IS ₁ , for example. By doing this, arbitrary points x, y on the paper coordinate axis can be converted to points X, Y on the plotter coordinate axis.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing these relationships.
As shown in a, the paper coordinate axes x, y and the plotter coordinate axes X, Y form a relative angle θ. Here, if an arbitrary point P on the paper coordinate axis is (x _p , y _p ), that point p becomes (Xp, Yp) on the plotter coordinate axis. These relationships can be expressed as follows.

(Xp, Yp)=f( _xp , _yp , θ) (1) Xp= _xp cosθ− _yp sinθ (2) Yp= _yp cosθ+ _xp sinθ (3) Furthermore, these equations The calculation of equation (3) can be performed, for example, by a microprocessor. By driving the pen 20 and the pen support mechanism 30 using the signals obtained in this way, the pen 20 and the pen support mechanism 30 are displaced along the paper coordinate axes x and y. A drawn image along the paper coordinate axes x and y is obtained.

In this embodiment, the pen 20 and pen support mechanism 30 of the plotter are controlled in accordance with the signal related to the relative tilt angle θ between the plotter coordinate axes X, Y and the paper coordinate axes x, y. Although an example has been described in which the pen support mechanism 30 is displaced along the paper coordinate axes x and y, the paper 10 is moved so that the inclination angle θ in FIG. 4 becomes zero using the sensors IS ₁ and IS ₂ as position feedback elements. The supporting stand or pen support mechanism 30 may be relatively rotated.

In addition, by adding a mechanism to automatically exchange drawn paper to such plotters,
An automatic plotter useful as an output terminal device for automatic test equipment can be realized.

As is clear from these, according to the present invention,
In a plotter that uses paper with at least marks for displaying coordinate axes, it is possible to realize a plotter that can obtain a drawn image along the paper coordinate axes even when the paper coordinate axes and the plotter coordinate axes are relatively tilted, Its practical effects are great.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a plotter according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a simplified structural explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a pen support mechanism according to the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are illustrations of an apparatus according to the present invention. It is an operation explanatory diagram. 10...Paper, 20...Pen, 30...Pen support mechanism, M...Mark, IS...Image sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a plotter that uses paper with marks that display at least coordinate axes, the mark is detected on a part of a pen support mechanism that movably supports a pen and is arranged to be movable relative to the paper. A mechanism is provided to determine the relative inclination between the plotter coordinate axis and the paper coordinate axis based on the output signal of the mark detection mechanism, and the plotter is controlled in accordance with the signal related to this inclination to control the pen and the pen support mechanism. A plotter characterized by being displaced along a paper coordinate axis.