JPS6391297A - Pen plotter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a pen plotter used as an output device of an information processing device, and in particular to a recording pen and means for driving the recording pen in a direction perpendicular to recording paper. .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a pen plotter generally called a flat head type.

In FIG. 6, 1 is a recording paper, 2 is a recording pen, and 3 is a carriage incorporating the recording pen 2 and a pen driving means for moving the recording pen 2 in a direction perpendicular to the recording paper 1. The carriage 3 is guided by guide rods 4 and 5 and moved in the X direction by a timing belt 6. Furthermore, motors (not shown) for driving the guide rods 4 and 5 and the timing belt 6 are held by blocks 7 and 8, and are moved in the Y direction by a lead screw 9 and a guide rod 10.

In this way, the recorder 3 page recorder 2 mounted on the carriage 3 is conveyed parallel to the recorder 1 to an arbitrary position on the recorder 1.

In addition to the above-mentioned flat head type, pen plotter pen conveyance means include a paper feeding method in which the recording pen and recording paper are moved in perpendicular directions, and a method in which the recording pen is built in and moves by itself on the recording paper (e.g. r Newton Special Edition All About Robots” Akira, 59.2.20゜Kyoikusha, p142
) etc. have been put into practical use.

In the example shown in Fig. 6, a timing belt 6 and lead screw 9 are used to transport the carriage 3, but various other methods such as wire and pulley, rack and pinion, ball screw, etc. can also be used. , these are all known, and similar structures can be adopted in the present invention, so detailed explanations here will be omitted.

Hereinafter, a recording pen in a conventional pen plotter and a pen driving means for moving the recording pen perpendicularly to a recording sheet will be described.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal side view showing the basic structure of a conventional pen driving means. The recording pen 2 is held by a pen holder 12 that swings about a fulcrum 11 provided on the carriage 3, and is urged downward in the Z direction by a spring 18.

The right end of the pen holder 12 is the solenoid 1 for pen up.
It is attached to the plunger 15 of No. 4. In addition, 4.
5 is a guide rod that guides the carriage 3 in the X direction.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which a predetermined voltage is applied to the solenoid 14, the pen holder 12 is pulled, and the recording pen 2 is moved upward in the Z direction. Generally, the recording pen 2 is a ballpoint pen, ink pen, etc. with a hard tip, and when the voltage application to the solenoid 14 is stopped, the spring 13
The recording pen 2 held in the pen holder 12 is guided by the guide hole 17, moves downward in the Z direction, and the pen tip 1
6 is pressed against the recording paper 1, making it possible to draw characters and figures.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a conventional pen plotter driving method. In FIG. 8, the line pattern to be drawn, that is, the stroke of a figure or character, is given by the figure/character pattern generation means 18, and the five-page calculation means 19 calculates the amount of pen movement in the X direction, the amount of pen movement in the Y direction, and the amount of pen movement in the Z direction. is decomposed into pen up-down information. Based on this information, the drive circuit 20 controls the X-direction motor Mx, the Y-direction motor My, and the z-direction solenoid 5O.
Lz is driven, and desired figures and characters can be drawn on the recording paper.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As mentioned above, in conventional pen plotters, ballpoint pens, ink pens, etc. with hard pen tips are used as recording pens, and accordingly, the pen driving means also moves the recording pen to the recording paper. It only had two positions: push or release. For this reason, book recording pens can only draw simple letters and figures with constant line thickness, as shown in Figure 9. To change the line thickness, the recording pen must be replaced each time. I needed to. Furthermore, even if the recording pen was replaced, the thickness of the line remained constant, and it was not possible to thicken or thin the line from the middle. Naturally, therefore, it was impossible to record characters similar to the calligraphy typeface on six pages as shown in FIG. 10.

Means to solve the problem Solve the above problem and do it without replacing the recording pen.
The technical means of the present invention for drawing characters and figures in various fonts includes a recording pen having an elastic nib, the recording pen being able to move in a direction perpendicular to the recording paper,
In addition, it is equipped with a pen driving means that can control the position continuously or in multiple stages.

action The effect of this technical means is as follows.

When a recording pen with an elastic nib is used, the thickness of the drawn line can be changed by the amount by which the recording pen is pressed against the recording paper, that is, the position of the recording pen in the Z direction perpendicular to the recording paper.

In other words, when the pen tip touches the recording paper just a little, the line is thin, and when the pen is pressed further, the line becomes thicker depending on the amount of pressure. By controlling the position of the recording pen in the Z direction continuously or in multiple stages, the thickness of the line can be freely controlled.

Furthermore, by combining the movement of the recording pen in the Z direction with a pen transport means that moves the recording pen in the X and Y directions parallel to the recording paper, it is also possible to change the thickness of the line in the middle of the book. becomes.

For example, from the state where the recording pen is pressed against the recording paper,
, when it is moved upward in the Z direction while being conveyed in the Y direction, the drawn line gradually becomes thinner.

Of course, the reverse is also possible, and by performing other appropriate controls, it is also possible to draw characters similar to a brush font as shown in FIG. 10.

Embodiment Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a pen driving means portion of a pen plotter according to the present invention. The pen plotter of the present invention is constructed by attaching this pen driving means portion in place of the carriage 3 of the conventional pen plotter shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the central portion of FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the recording pen 21 is a pen having an elastic nib 22 like a commercially available brush pen. The recording pen 21 is held with its stepped portion 23 fitted into a protrusion 25 of a pen holder 24. The pen holder 24 is guided by two guide rods 27 (one not shown) set up on a carriage 26, one end of which is directly connected to the shaft of a pulse motor 28, and the other end of which is a reed supported by a bearing 29. It is moved by the screw 30 in the Z direction perpendicular to the recording paper 1. 31 is a support plate for keeping the lead screw 30 upright. Further, 4 and 5 are guide rods that guide the carriage 26 in the X direction, and 6 is a timing belt for driving in the X direction.

With the above structure, by rotating or holding the pulse motor 28 at a desired speed, the position of the recording pen 21 can be controlled in multiple stages at very small pitches in the Z direction.

FIG. 3 shows that the recording pen 21 is rotated by the pulse motor 28.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state in which the recording pen 21 is moved downward in the Z direction, and the pen tip 22 of the recording pen 21 is deformed because it has elasticity. In this state, move the carriage 26 to
, when conveyed in the Y direction, a thick line is drawn. Further, when the recording pen 21 is moved slightly upward in the Z direction, a thin line is drawn.

Next, a method of controlling the pen plotter of this embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a method of driving the pen plotter of this embodiment.

In FIG. 4, the graphic/character pattern generation means 32 provides the stroke of the line to be drawn as well as attribute information such as the thickness and shape of the line itself. This stroke/line attribute information is decomposed into information on the amount of movement in the X and Y directions and the amount and speed of movement in the Z direction by the calculation means 33, and is passed through the drive means 34 to the X direction motor MxY direction motor MY.
, Z-direction motor Mz is driven. The speed of movement in the Z direction is configured to be changed relative to the speed of movement in the be able to. In this embodiment, since the pulse motor 28 is used as the Z-direction motor Mz, this can be realized by changing the pulse speed given to it. Furthermore, if a DC motor is used for Mz, this can be done by changing its voltage, and since these techniques are well known, detailed explanations will be omitted here.

With the above-described configuration and control, for example, if you want to draw the "bright" part of the third stroke of the character "fat" shown in FIG. By moving the recording pen 21 upward in the Z direction while conveying the carriage 26 to the right in the X direction and downward in the Y direction, the line can be gradually made thinner.

Also, if you want to draw a "thick" fourth stroke, use the carriage 26
The recording pen 21 may be lowered while rotating clockwise to press the pen tip 22 against the recording paper 1, and then the recording pen 21 may be raised.

In this way, by appropriately controlling the amount of movement of the carriage in the X and Y directions and the amount and speed of movement of the recording pen in the Z direction, it is possible to create complex figures in which the thickness of calligraphy characters and lines are not constant. can be drawn.

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described.

Figure 5 shows recording pen 21f! : The recording paper 1 is mounted at a slight angle from the perpendicular direction.

According to the first embodiment described above, the first part of the line that is often seen in calligraphy typefaces (for example, the first part of "thick" in FIG.
For the second stroke), it is necessary to lower the recording pen 21 in the Z direction while slightly moving it in the X and Y directions. However, according to this embodiment, since the recording pen 21 is attached at an angle, the starting part of the line can be drawn by simply lowering the recording pen 21 straight in the Z direction, making control easier. It is.

In the first and second embodiments, the lead screw 30 was used as the pen driving means, but other methods such as a rack and pinion, a cam, a wire and a pulley, etc. may be used to achieve the same effect. can be obtained. Furthermore, it can be easily inferred that if the shape of the nib 22 of the recording pen 21 is made special, it is possible to obtain not only brush typefaces but also a wider variety of line types.

Furthermore, it is clear that the pen driving means of the pen plotter shown in this embodiment is applicable not only to the flat head type pen plotter but also to the paper feeding type and self-propelled type plotters described above.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a recording pen having an elastic pen tip, the recording pen can be moved in the Z direction perpendicular to the recording paper, and the recording pen can be moved in continuous or multi-step positions. By being equipped with a controllable pen drive means and a pen transport means that moves the recording pen in the X and Y directions parallel to the recording paper, it is possible to arbitrarily change the thickness and shape of the line without replacing the recording pen. This makes it possible to draw calligraphy characters and figures with complicated lines, which was impossible with conventional pen plotters. This greatly expands the range of applications of the pen plotter.

In addition, by changing the recording pen or pen carriage part by 13 pages, it is possible to have the same function as a conventional pen plotter, which has a great practical effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a pen drive unit of a pen plotter according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view of the central part of FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the driving method of the pen plotter of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the pen drive section of the pen plotter according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a flat head type pen plotter, FIG. 7 is a longitudinal side view of the pen drive section of a conventional pen plotter, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the drive method of a conventional pen plotter. Fig. 9 shows page 14, 26... Carriage, 28... Z-direction pulse motor, 30... Name of lead screw agent.
Patent attorney Toshio Nakao 1 idiot/--1 record paper 21--1 record N-26--Fujikeyao's "way" Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 2 La Eishi Σ Figure 6 I Figure 8

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A recording pen with an elastic nib, a pen driving means that can move the recording pen in a direction perpendicular to the recording paper, and can perform continuous or multi-step position control; A pen plotter comprising a pen conveying means for moving the recording pen parallel to the recording paper, and capable of controlling the thickness and shape of the recorded line. (2) The pen plotter according to claim 1, wherein the moving speed of the recording pen by the pen driving means can be changed relative to the pen transporting speed by the pen transporting means. (3) The pen plotter according to claim 1, wherein a brush or a brush pen is used as the recording pen. (4) The pen plotter according to claim 1, wherein the recording pen is attached at an angle with respect to the recording paper.