JPS6410342B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a synchronization device for synchronizing the aiming and firing of a microballistic printer or similar rapid fire gun device.

In U.S. Patent Application No. 39372 dated May 15, 1979 [Japanese Patent Application No. 55-60824 (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 55-152064)], the present inventor describes a ribbon-like printing that overlaps a paper sheet. A micro-impact printing machine is described that delivers a plurality of solid projectiles, such as balls of about 1 mm in diameter, one after the other very rapidly onto a medium. A gun device movable about orthogonal axes for aiming successively introduces bullets into an elastic breech. This gun breech is
Slightly smaller in diameter than a bullet, it holds air under pressure behind the breech. The bullet is fired by fitting the bullet into the barrel and pushing the bullet deep enough into the breech to expand pressurized air within the barrel and propel the bullet outward.

In the micro-impact printing press described in the above-mentioned patent application, it is important that the aiming of the gun device and the subsequent firing of the bullet be precisely synchronized with each other. If the gun device is moved while the bullet passes through the barrel, the trajectory of the bullet will be unpredictably disturbed and the bullet will hit the media farther from the target. If the aiming and firing process occurs with a low degree of synchronization or out of synchronization, a significant number of bullets will miss the target and the sheet will have a smudged and aesthetically unpleasant appearance.

In the micro-impact printing press described above, the synchronization signal is obtained from a disc rotating on a common axis with the rotating sawtooth blade used to project the bullet into the gun device.
The disc has a plurality of equally spaced holes formed around its periphery equal to the number of teeth on the serrated blade. A fixed photodetector placed adjacent the periphery of the disk generates the synchronization pulse. The accuracy of synchronization in this type of system, of course, depends on the alignment of each disc hole with the teeth of the serrated blade, which alignment is difficult to obtain reliably. Such a system also detects only the attempt to fire a bullet, not the actual firing of the bullet.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a microimpact printing machine that accurately directs bullets toward the printing medium.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a micro-impact printing machine that accurately synchronizes aiming and firing of bullets.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a micro-impact printing machine that can be operated at high speed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive micro-impact printing machine.

Generally, the present invention provides an apparatus for synchronizing the aiming and firing of a gun system in a microimpact printing press that uses a suitable sensor, such as a microphone, to detect the firing of a bullet by the gun system. The output of the firing sensor is used by the gun system controller to determine when the bullet exits the muzzle of the gun system and to aim the gun system to a new target location. In a preferred construction of the invention, the firing sensor includes a microphone acoustically coupled to an air inlet supplying pressurized air to the pressure chamber of the gun device. Alternatively, the firing sensor comprises a microphone or optical detector positioned adjacent the muzzle of the gun device. Controlling the aiming of the gun device in response to the actual firing of the bullet from the gun device allows for precise synchronization of the aiming and firing process, allowing for high-speed firing operations while preserving aiming accuracy. I can do it.

Embodiments of the micro-impact printing press of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in one embodiment of a micro-impact printing machine 10 according to the present invention, a gun device 12
holds multiple bullets, such as bullet 14, on platen 20.
The ribbons 16 are arranged so as to be directed one after another with respect to the ribbon 16 overlapping the paper sheet 18 above. The bullet 14 has a diameter of 0.8 mm, for example, so as to create a spot size in the paper of 0.3 mm diameter. A pair of vertical pivots 22 mounted on an annular piece 24 rotate the gun device 1.
2 for movement about a vertical pivot axis, and a pair of fixed horizontal pivots 26 support the ring 24 and thus the gun assembly 12 for movement about a horizontal pivot axis. The gun assembly 12 pivots independently about an X or horizontal axis and about a Y or vertical axis to direct successive bullets 14 to the desired point of impact on the ribbon 16. It is set as.

The turning rod 28, which is moved in the direction of the X-axis by an X-drive unit 38 shown diagrammatically in FIG.
is applied to a portion of the gun device 12 disposed in front of the vertical pivot axis, and the gun device 12 is pivoted by a desired angle around the Y axis. Similarly, the Y turning rod 32, which is moved in the direction of the Y axis by the Y drive unit 40 shown in FIG. Pivot the desired angle in the Y direction. Tension springs 36 maintain gun assembly 12 in intimate contact with each drive unit head 30,34.

As shown in FIG. 3, each drive unit 38, 40 is
It is controlled by any suitable type of computer 42, such as an Intel 8048 or other microcomputer, associated with the microimpact printing press 10. Each drive unit 38, 40 supplies a position signal X, Y representative of the instantaneous displacement of each turning rod 28, 32 to a computer 42. Calculator 42 supplies correction signals ΔX, ΔY to move turning rods 28, 32 to new positions if they differ from the current position. The structure and operation of each drive unit 38, 40, which is itself outside the scope of the present invention, is described in detail in the inventor's aforementioned US patent application Ser. No. 39,372.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, in the bullet loading device 44 of the micro-impact printing machine 10, a rotating sawtooth blade 50 having teeth 52 is used to hold the bullet 14 to be fired.
is guided along the slot 46 formed in the guide 48 to the left in FIG. Bullet advance motor 54, shown in FIG. 3, drives sawtooth blade 50 clockwise in response to a bullet advance signal from computer 42.
The projectile 14 thus driven along the slot 46 enters the second guide 56. Guide 56 loads each bullet 14 into the rear of gun assembly 12, as will be described in more detail below.

Gun device 12 includes a body 58 defining a conical bore 60 for receiving a barrel 62. A gun barrel 62 made of a suitable elastic material has a conical hole 6.
The barrel 62 is provided with a conical outer surface conforming to the 0 to automatically position the barrel 62 within the housing or body 58. The barrel 62 is approximately 3 mm long in the illustrated embodiment and defines a cylindrical internal bore 64 having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the bullet 14. Bore 64 extends from the front of barrel 62 rearwardly toward tapered portion 66 . Tapered portion 66
opens into a cylindrical sphincter or breech 70.
The breech 70 has a bore 68 having a normal diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the bullet 14, as shown in broken lines in FIG.

Recess 7 in body 58 behind conical hole 60
2 houses a charging guide (hereinafter simply referred to as a guide) 76. The guide 76 rests against the corner 74 of the joint between the hole 60 and the recess 72. Guide 76
is slightly larger than the diameter of the bullet 14, e.g.
It has a central hole 78 with a diameter that is 0.01 mm larger. Inside the recess 72, a guide 7 is placed behind the guide 76.
A pressure seal piece 80 is located spaced from 6 by a spacer 82 . A spring clip 84 disposed within annular recess 86 holds pressure seal piece 80 in place. Pressure sealing piece 80 includes a central passageway 87 having a diameter approximately equal to the diameter of bullet 14.
has been formed. A central passage 87 leads from the outlet of guide 56 and is aligned with hole 78 in guide 76. Air at a pressure of 4 to 6 atmospheres is supplied to the main body 5 through the air inflow pipe 88.
8 into the antechamber 90 between the guide 76 and the pressure sealing piece 80. The construction of gun device 12 is such that the rear portion of barrel 62 is spaced from guide 76 to define a pressure chamber 92 .

A selection cam 94 of the gun device 12 is assembled to the narrowed front end portion of the main body 58 of the gun device 12. The selection cam 94 is shaped to provide a surface contour against which the drive unit heads 30, 34 rest.

The computer 42 is programmed in a manner well known to those skilled in the art and follows a subroutine as shown in FIG. ) so that they can be sent one after another. Such subroutines may be entered to print particular strokes of characters provided to calculator 42 by an input device such as keyboard 106, for example. After entering the subroutine [block 114], the program first starts index I with 1 [block 116].
The program then causes the bullet advance motor 54 to begin feeding the bullet 14 through the sawtooth blade 50 [block 118]. After advancing bullet 14,
The program sends appropriate output signals △X, △Y to
Send to drive units 38, 40 [Block 120] Each drive unit 38, 40 aims gun 12 at initial location (X1, Y1).

In operation of the micro-impact printing press according to the invention, when the apparatus is at rest, the serrated blade 50 engages each bullet 14, the front bullet engaging the breech 70, and the front bullet engaging the breech 70. The pressure chamber 92 is advanced to a position where a seal is formed with the pressure chamber 92 and pressure can be generated within the pressure chamber 92. Counting three bullets backward from the front bullet, there is a bullet 14 located at the rear of the pressure sealing piece 80 and engaging the bullet 14 as it attempts to exit the guide 56.

When the sawtooth blade 50 rotates, its teeth 5
A force of 2 is applied to the line of each bullet 14 between the bullet in the breech 70 and the last bullet acted upon by the teeth 52. In this way, the air in the pressure chamber 92 is removed from the hole 64.
Inflate the bullet 14 from the hole 64 by about 20 to about
Propels at a radial velocity of 40m/sec. After firing the first bullet, the next bullet moves into position within the hole 68 and forms a seal against the hole 68, again creating pressure in the pressure chamber 92 to a value equal to the initial pressure of 4 to 6 atmospheres. do.

Side conduit 9 forming a T-joint on air inflow pipe 88
6 acoustically couples the air inlet tube 88 to the chamber 98. Disposed within chamber 98 is a pressure microphone 100 of any suitable type, such as a piezoelectric microphone, a condenser microphone, or the like. The pressure chamber drop created in each chamber 90, 92 when projectile 14 is fired causes waves to propagate along air inlet tube 88 and conduit 96 into chamber 98. Within chamber 98, this wave causes a negative output from microphone 100. An edge sensor 10 of any suitable type well known in the art in response to this microphone output.
4. For example, a synchronizing pulse is supplied to the computer 42 by a differentiator followed by a shot trigger circuit followed by a one-shot multivibrator. A constriction 10 is provided in the air inflow pipe 88 on the upstream side of the conduit 96.
2, reducing the rate of pressure drop to a rate that can be easily detected by microphone 100. Side conduit 96 and air inlet tube 8 connecting side conduit 96 to gun device 12 in a manner that minimizes undesirable delays.
It must be relatively short.

After aiming the gun device 12, the subroutine executes bullet 1
microphone 100 for instructing that 4 has been emitted;
Wait for a signal from [block 122]. The subroutine is then delayed for a sufficient period of time for the just-fired bullet 14 to exit the gun assembly 12 (block 124). In the illustrated gun device 12, the breech 7
A delay of approximately 0.3 microseconds after firing from zero is sufficient to move bullet 14 the length of hole 64. The subroutine then tests I to see if I is equal to N, indicating that N bullets have been fired [block 126]. If more bullets are to be fired (i.e., I is less than N), the subroutine increments I by 1 [block 128] and then returns to block 120 to aim the gun device 12 at the new target location. I can do it. The subroutines are blocks 120 to 128.
N bullets are fired along the loop including , and continue at a rate of 2000 times/sec or more determined by the bullet advancement rate until the end. At the end of the N firings, the subroutine stops the projectile advancement motor [block 130] and returns to the program that called this subroutine [block 132].

Although microphone 100 is shown acoustically coupled to air inlet tube 88 as the preferred device for firing detection, other means may be used. That is, the fourth
A microphone 108 may be positioned adjacent the exit of the barrel 64 as shown to detect the pressure waves created by the expanding air within the barrel 64 when the projectile is sufficiently propelled. Alternatively, if desired, a light beam can be directed from a source 110 across the path of the exiting bullet as it exits the barrel 64 and detected by a suitable photodetector 112, as shown in FIG. The bullet 14 may be detected optically. However, these modified means are
These are less desirable than the microphone 100 shown in FIG. 2 because they do not detect the firing of the bullet 14 until it actually exits the barrel 64. This inherent delay, combined with the additional delay necessarily introduced by the external control circuitry, limits the maximum firing rate that can be obtained while properly synchronizing aiming and firing.

a drive unit 38 responsive to the correction signals △X, △Y;
Instead of using 40, a servo unit with an internal control loop that responds directly to the desired position signal may be used. In such a case, the control loop
Since the computer 42 is outside the correction signal △X,
It is only necessary to program it so that the basic position signals X and Y are supplied instead of ΔY.

It is clear that the object of the invention can be achieved in this way. The microimpact printing press of the present invention accurately directs bullets to a print or print-receiving medium by precisely synchronizing the aiming and firing of the bullets. The micro-impact printing machine of the present invention can operate at high speed, and at the same time is simple and inexpensive.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to its embodiments, it is obvious that the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from its spirit.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial front view showing one embodiment of a firing device for a micro-impact printing press according to the present invention with the gun device in a neutral position; FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1; 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit for the launcher of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 and 5 are partial side views of different variations of the firing sensor of the firing device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a control subroutine for the circuit shown in FIG. 3. 10... Micro impact printing machine, 12... Gun device,
14... Bullet, 42... Control computer, 50... Sawtooth blade, 64... Hole, 70... Breech, 7
6... Guide, 88... Air inflow pipe, 90... Front chamber, 92... Pressure chamber, 100... Microphone.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A microimpact printing machine that produces an intelligible pattern on a print-receiving medium, comprising: (a) support means for supporting the print-receiving medium; and (b) spaced from the print-receiving medium. firing means for sequentially firing solid bullets from a location toward the print-receiving medium; (c) sensing means for sensing the firing of the first bullet by the firing means; repositioning means for repositioning said firing means to propel a second said projectile immediately following said first projectile towards a predetermined location on said print receiving medium of which it forms a part; Micro-impact printing, wherein the position changing means responds to the sensing means so as to change the position of the firing means only when firing of the first bullet from the firing means is detected. Machine. 2. Claim 1, wherein the sensing means for sensing the firing of the first bullet is an optical sensing means.
The micro-impact printing machine described in Section 1. 3. Claim 1, wherein the sensing means for sensing the firing of the first bullet is an acoustic sensing means.
The micro-impact printing machine described in Section 1. 4. The position changing means includes: aiming signal generating means for generating an aiming signal corresponding to the predetermined location on the print receiving medium forming part of the pattern; aiming signal response means responsive to the aiming signal for repositioning the firing means to propel the second projectile immediately following the first projectile toward a direction; 2. A sensing means response means responsive to said sensing means so as to apply said aiming signal to said position changing means only when firing of said first projectile is sensed. Micro impact printing machine. 5. In a micro-impact printing machine which produces an intelligible pattern on a print receiving medium, it comprises: (a) a support means for supporting said print receiving medium; and (b) a breech and after firing of a solid projectile from said breech. , a gun device having a hole extending to a muzzle through which the bullet emerges, the gun device sequentially fires the bullet toward the print-receiving medium from a location spaced from the print-receiving medium; (d) sensing means for sensing movement of a first of said bullets passing a predetermined location between the breech and said print receiving medium; and (d) a predetermined mark on said print receiving medium forming part of said pattern. repositioning means for changing the position of the gun device so as to propel a second bullet immediately following the first bullet toward the location; The micro-impact printing machine is configured such that the position changing means responds to the sensing means so as to change the position of the gun device only when movement of one bullet is sensed. 6. The predetermined location where movement of the first bullet is sensed is located at the muzzle of the gun, and the position of the gun device is changed only when the emergence of the first bullet from the muzzle is sensed. A micro-impact printing machine according to claim 5. 7. The predetermined location where movement of the first bullet is sensed is located at the breech, and after sensing the movement of the first bullet from the breech, the predetermined location is located at the breech of the first bullet from the muzzle of the first bullet. 6. A micro-impact printing machine according to claim 5, wherein the position of said gun device is changed only after a predetermined time delay sufficient to allow the appearance of the micro-impact printer. 8. A micro-impact printing machine that produces an intelligible pattern on a print-receiving medium, comprising: (a) support means for supporting said print-receiving medium; and (b) support means for supporting said print-receiving medium from a location spaced from said print-receiving medium. A firing means for sequentially firing solid bullets toward a person, comprising: (i) a pressurization area forming means for forming a pressurization area behind the bullet to be fired; and (ii) the pressurization area. (iii) restraint means for generally restraining said projectile from moving in response to pressure from said pressurized region; and (iii) means for permitting pressure from said pressurized region to propel said projectile from said firing means. (c) a sensing means for sensing a pressure change occurring in the pressurized region when the first bullet is fired by the firing means; (d) positioning the firing means to propel a second bullet immediately following the first bullet toward a predetermined location on the print receiving medium forming part of the pattern; and a position changing means for changing the position of the firing means, the position changing means responding to the sensing means to change the position of the firing means only when sensing firing of the first bullet from the firing means. Micro impact printing machine. 9 further comprising a conduit, the pressurized region receiving pressurized gas through the conduit, and sensing the pressure change at a location along the conduit spaced from the pressurized region; A micro-impact printing machine according to claim 8. 10 further comprising a conduit, the pressurized region receiving pressurized gas through the conduit;
Throttle forming means are provided for sensing the pressure change at a location along the conduit spaced apart from the pressurized region and forming a throttle in the conduit at a location spaced upstream from the location. A micro-impact printing machine according to claim 8. 11. In a micro-impact printing machine that produces a pattern on a print-receiving medium by sequentially firing solid projectiles at each predetermined location on the print-receiving medium forming an intelligible pattern, (a) the printing support means for supporting a receiving medium; (b) a hole suitable for receiving one of said projectiles;
(c) a pressure chamber forming means for forming a pressure chamber behind the breech; and (c) a pressure chamber forming means for forming a pressure chamber behind the breech. (d) supply means for supplying gas under pressure to said pressure chamber; and (e) forming a pneumatic seal to allow accumulation of pressurized gas within said pressure chamber and then positively energizing said bullet. and passing the bullet through the breech and releasing it from the breech so that the pressurized gas propels the bullet out of the gun device toward one of the predetermined locations. (c) sensing means for sensing movement of the first bullet passing through a predetermined location between the breech and the print-receiving medium; (g) repositioning means for repositioning the gun device to propel a second bullet immediately following the first bullet toward one of the predetermined locations; The micro-impact type printing machine is configured such that the position changing means responds to the sensing means so as to change the position of the gun device only when the movement of the first bullet is sensed. 12. The introduction means for introducing the bullet into the breech includes (i) passage forming means for forming a passage for directing the bullets lined up in a row into the breech, and (ii) the bullet Claim 11, further comprising means for applying positive pressure to said line of bullets from behind so as to periodically introduce said bullets into said breech to form said pneumatic seal. The micro-impact printing machine described in Section 1. 13. A micro-impact printing machine that produces an intelligible pattern on a print-receiving medium, comprising: (a) support means for supporting the print-receiving medium; (b) (i) means for forming holes; and (ii) said holes. means for propelling the solid bullet along the length of the hole, the means for propelling the solid bullet along the length of the hole, the means for propelling the solid bullet along the length of the hole spaced apart from the print-receiving medium; firing means for sequentially firing the bullets from a location toward the print-receiving medium; (c) sensing means for sensing pressurized fluid generated when the firing means fires the first bullet; (d) positioning the firing means to propel a second bullet immediately following the first bullet toward a predetermined location on the print receiving medium forming part of the pattern; a position changing means for changing the position of the firing means; A micro-impact printing machine with responsive change means.