JP2564157B2 - Cutting plotter - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a cutting plotter that cuts predetermined figures and images and is used for various purposes such as printing plate making or pattern making.

[Conventional technology]

A cutting plotter of this type is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a cutting pen, 2 is a cutting medium, 3 is a pen block, and 4 is a control means.

The cutting pen 1 has a cutting edge 11 formed in a tapered shape. The cutting edge 11 is the cutting edge 11, that is, the cutting pen 1.
It has a free structure without any protection against rotation about the moving center (mechanical center) of the.

When the cutting pen 1 is moved in a predetermined direction via the actuator 32 according to a command from the control means 4, the cutting edge 11 of the cutting pen 1 rotates in the direction with the least resistance, that is, the cutting direction due to the cutting resistance with the cutting medium 2. To do.

As described above, in the conventional device, the rotatable cutting edge 11
By using, it is possible to perform cutting in all directions.

By the way, this kind of cutting pen 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in, since the center of the cutting edge 11 and the tip position of the cutting edge 11 are deviated, the tip position of the cutting edge 11 is a locus on the circumference of the circumference that is away from the central position of the cutting edge 11 by a predetermined distance. Now, the cutting pen 1 is moved down via the actuator 32 based on a command from the control means 4, and a "T" -shaped figure is cut by the first cutting and the second cutting as shown in FIG. 5 (b). In this case, since the tip position of the cutting edge 11 exists at an unspecified position on the circumference having a certain distance with respect to the center point at the start of the graphic cutting, the first cutting and the second cutting are performed. There is a drawback that an accurate cutting shape cannot be obtained due to relative displacement.

As a method for improving this drawback, as a conventionally proposed method, there is a method in which the position of the tip of the cutting edge is fixed at the start of cutting.

This method is provided with a magnet that rotates in synchronization with the cutting edge 11, and by providing a plurality of magnets that are magnetically coupled to the magnet on the case side that holds the cutting edge 11, by utilizing the attraction and repulsive force of these magnets. The tip position of the cutting edge 11 was aligned with the predetermined position.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in such a structure, a plurality of magnets must be provided on the pen case and the blade tip or a member connected to the blade tip, which is a drawback in manufacturing.

The present invention aims to improve this point, and provides a cutting plotter capable of achieving the intended purpose with a simple configuration.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in the present invention, the position of the tip of the blade tip is made constant at the start of cutting by moving the same in a predetermined direction by a predetermined amount prior to the start of cutting.

[Action]

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram schematically explaining the operation of the present invention. Now, consider the case where the center of the cutting edge 11, that is, the mechanical center, is at position O ′ and the tip of the cutting edge 11 is at position A. The position O'is moved in the + p direction on the axis P with the position O'as the center of movement.

In this case, assuming that the position A is on the axis P and the other conditions are also ideal, the tip position A of the cutting edge 11 also moves on the axis P, but here, the tip position A of the cutting edge 11 is the axis P. It is considered to be in a position extremely close to. In this case, the cutting edge
The tip position A of 11 draws a locus as shown in FIG. 3 due to the contact friction of the cutting edge 11 as the moving center of the cutting edge 11 moves on the axis P. Then, the moving center of the cutting edge 11 is located at the position O (O'O
The distance is called the movement amount required for blade edge control. ) When you reach the top,
The tip A of the cutting edge 11 is placed on the axis P (end of the cutting edge control), and thereafter the tip of the cutting edge moves on the P axis.

In the above cases, the tip of the blade tip 11 is located substantially on the axis P when the blade tip 11 is moved, but when the blade tip position is located at a position other than that, the blade tip control of the blade tip is performed with a smaller moving distance. It can be carried out.

Therefore, in an actual device, the tip of the cutting edge can always be controlled in a constant direction (position) by moving the distance of the above-described required moving amount of the cutting edge control prior to graphic cutting. In this case, in an actual device, the moving distance for controlling the cutting edge can be arbitrarily determined according to various conditions such as the thickness of the cutting edge 11 and the required quality of the cutting pattern. However, in the apparatus of the present invention, the distance required for blade edge control is approximately twice the amount of displacement between the mechanical center of the blade edge 11 and the tip of the blade edge.

In addition, at the intended position of the cutting edge control, the cutting edge tip position A
It has been stated above that the blade edge control is not performed when is on the axis P. However, when it is adopted in an actual device, the frictional force due to the impact at the start of movement and the variation of the surface in contact with the blade edge 11, etc. It is considered that such inconvenience is virtually impossible due to the variation.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a cutting operation showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of a cutting plotter showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

 First, the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

In the cutting effective area 221, the code,
Consider a case where the cutting shown in, and is performed in this order to obtain a cutting figure. For the initial cutting position A, a required amount L of blade edge control movement is provided. Therefore, the actual cutting operation is A '→ A → B → C → D →
It is done like A. Here, the operation of A ′ → A is the third
The required amount of movement is shown in the figure, and the edges are aligned. In this embodiment, the urging force of the actuator that applies the pressing force to the cutting pen 1 is made as small as possible so that the cutting between A ′ and A is not performed as much as possible. Also, the home point of the device (cutting origin)
Cutting may be performed in the same manner by providing a required movement amount for controlling the cutting edge outside. In this case, even if the cutting pen 1 is moved up and down, the direction of the cutting edge 11 is
Since it does not change in a normal state, it can be configured to move to the regular cutting position in the up state and then perform the cutting of the figure.

Next, a second embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described.
The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is provided with a cutting edge control area 223 for performing cutting edge control especially inside the cutting pen moving area 222 and outside the cutting effective area 221. In this case, the cutting medium 2 in the effective cutting area 221 can be protected without unnecessary cutting or damage. In the cutting in this case, for example, the cutting edge can be controlled prior to the formal cutting by moving in the cutting edge control area 223 in the same direction as the figure to be officially cut next.

In an actual device, the present invention can be achieved by providing the following means in the control means 4 of the conventional device shown in FIG. That is, a ROM (not shown) storing a program for performing the above-mentioned blade edge control operation is provided, and when the cutting signal is input to the control means 4, the program stored in this ROM is read out and the blade edge control is performed. I am configuring.

Further, in this case, the blade edge controlled in the blade edge control described above is set to the control means 4 as an initial value at a stage when one blade edge control operation is completed with an angle value of 0 (zero),
It can also be configured to be stored in a memory such as RAM (not shown). In this case, not only in a single figure cutting operation, but in the cutting operation of a plurality of consecutive figures, the above-mentioned desired value is calculated using the CPU (not shown) in the control means and updated one after another. By doing so, the number of blade edge controls can be reduced as much as possible.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the cutting edge can be controlled without using any mechanical means, the direction (position) of the cutting edge tip can be easily and reliably aligned without using a complicated mechanism. You can

Further, this aligning operation merely moves the device in the predetermined direction by the predetermined amount prior to cutting, so that the device is less burdened.

Further, by sequentially updating and storing the angle of the blade tip as an initial value in the RAM, the blade control operation can be minimized in a series of cutting operations.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 are explanatory views showing the respective embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram explaining the operation of the present invention, FIG.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a conventional device. 221 …… Cutting effective area, 222 …… Cutting pen movement area 223 …… Blade edge control area

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cutting plotter using a cutting pen in which the cutting edge is freely rotated and the tip of the cutting edge is offset from the center in order to relatively two-dimensionally move on the cutting medium to perform cutting in a predetermined shape. In the cutting plotter, a cutting edge control means for moving the cutting pen in a predetermined direction by a predetermined amount is provided prior to the cutting. 2. The cutting plotter according to claim 1, characterized in that the movement of the cutting pen in the cutting edge control means prior to cutting is a pressing force smaller than the pressing force for actually cutting. 3. A cutting plotter in which the cutting edge is freely rotated and the tip of the cutting edge is offset from the center in order to relatively two-dimensionally move on the cutting medium and perform cutting in a predetermined shape, prior to cutting. A cutting edge control means for moving the cutting pen in a predetermined direction by a predetermined amount, and a cutting edge control area for performing a cutting edge control operation by the cutting edge control means is provided outside the cutting effective area and within the cutting pen moving area. A cutting plotter characterized by that. 4. As a cutting edge control means, a ROM storing a program for performing a cutting edge control operation, a position (direction) of the cutting edge tip aligned by this cutting edge control operation, and a series of cutting operations are stored. Claim 1 characterized in that a memory for updating is provided.
The cutting plotter according to items 3 to 3.