JP3572840B2 - Cutting plotter - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cutting plotter for cutting out characters and figures from a cutting sheet, and more particularly to a cutting plotter that facilitates handling of a cutting sheet after cutting.
[0002]
Problems to be solved by the prior art and the invention
FIG. 5 shows a cutting sheet S with release paper on which characters have been cut by a conventional cutting plotter. A lettering sheet L having a typeface and dimensions corresponding to input data has been cut on the surface cutting sheet. When using the lettering sheet L as a display, first, the margin M other than the lettering sheet L is peeled off from the release paper on the back surface, a transparent adhesive application sheet is placed on the surface of the cutting sheet S, and the lettering sheet L is transferred to the application sheet. And peel off the release paper. Then, the application sheet is stuck on the target place, the surface of the application sheet is rubbed with a squeegee, the lettering sheet L is adhered to the surface to be adhered, and the application sheet is peeled off, so that the lettering sheet L remains on the object surface. In some cases, the lettering sheet L is removed from the cutting sheet S, the margin M is transferred to the application sheet, and the margin M is used as a white lettering sheet.
[0003]
In the above-described conventional sheet transfer process, it is troublesome to remove unnecessary portions from the release paper after cutting characters and symbols on the cutting sheet S. In particular, when the area of the removed portion is large, the force required for peeling is large, and the peeled unnecessary sheet sticks to the lettering portion on the release paper, and the lettering portion may also peel off from the release paper at the same time, which is not easy to handle. There is a problem.
[0004]
As a proposal for facilitating peeling of an unnecessary portion of the cutting sheet, a liquid such as water or soapy water is applied to one of the adhesive surface of the adhesive sheet (cutting sheet) and the substrate, and the adhesive sheet and the substrate are easily peeled. After applying a cutting process to the adhesive sheet of this laminate, unnecessary portions of the adhesive sheet are removed from the substrate, and pressure is applied to the adhesive sheet remaining on the substrate to remove the liquid between the adhesive sheet and the substrate. A method has been proposed in which the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is discharged and strongly adhered to the substrate (Japanese Patent Application Laid- Open No. 1-221225 ). Although this method achieves the purpose of facilitating the peeling of the unnecessary part of the adhesive sheet, it requires the work of applying a liquid to one of the substrate and the adhesive sheet and then bonding the same, and the adhesive after the cutting process is performed. Since characters and figures on the sheet are adhered to the substrate, the substrate itself is used as a glass window or wall material, and cutting characters cannot be transferred to existing glass windows or wall surfaces. Is limited.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid- Open No. 7-291522 discloses that an unnecessary part other than characters and figures of a cut film (cutting sheet) is fixed to a backing paper (peeling paper) so that the subsequent application sheet sticking and peeling steps are performed. Discloses a technique in which only portions such as characters and figures are transferred to an application sheet, and unnecessary portions are left on the backing paper, so that an unnecessary portion removing operation can be omitted. Here, as a specific means for fixing unnecessary portions to the backing paper, a thermal head is attached to the carriage of the cutter, and after the cutting process, the vicinity of outlines such as characters and figures is heated by the thermal head and the unnecessary parts are mounted on the backing paper. A configuration for bonding is described.
In the above technology, the work of removing unnecessary portions of the cut film is omitted. The method requires a stronger force to peel the application sheet than the method of pasting and peeling the application sheet on the backing paper from which the blanks other than the figures and figures have been removed, resulting in poor workability.
Also, in the method of heating the vicinity of outlines such as characters and figures with a thermal head and bonding unnecessary portions to the backing paper, the periphery of the cut film is not fixed to the backing paper, so that when the application sheet is peeled, the periphery of the cut film is removed. There is a disadvantage that the part is peeled off together with the application sheet. In order to prevent this, if a method is adopted in which all unnecessary portions of the cut film are heated and bonded to the backing paper, the entire unnecessary portion must be scanned and heated by a cutter carriage equipped with a thermal head. To reduce efficiency.
Therefore, it is necessary to solve the drawbacks of the method of performing the cutting process by attaching the cutting sheet to the display substrate, while eliminating the restriction on the attaching position of the cutting sheet and eliminating the trouble required for removing unnecessary portions of the cutting sheet. A technical problem arises, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above problem.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention is proposed to achieve the above object, and a cutting control unit that performs arithmetic processing on outline data of characters and symbols based on input drawing data, a cutting head driving device that drives a cutting head, In a cutting plotter that drives a cutting head based on outline data, cuts out a cutting sheet, and creates a lettering sheet, means for designating a region outside or inside the outline of characters and symbols in a drawing area by filling and specifying A means for calculating area filling data, and a thermal printer unit for performing thermal transfer printing based on the filling data, wherein a cutting sheet outline cut by the cutting head and a heat-sensitive adhesive tape are superimposed. By performing the thermal transfer printing process by the thermal printer unit Te, there is provided a cutting plotter, characterized by transferring the fill specified area of the cutting sheet to the heat-sensitive adhesive tape.
[0006]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a cutting plotter 1, comprising a plotter / printer control device 2, a plotter section 3 and a thermal printer section 4, and the thermal printer section 4 is composed of a line type thermal head 5 and a platen roller 6. The cutting sheet S and the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A are fed by the rotation of the platen roller 6 with the S and the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A accommodated in the adhesive tape cassette C interposed therebetween.
[0007]
The heat-sensitive adhesive tape A includes a tape utilizing the temperature dependency of the pressure-sensitive adhesive, a tape obtained by applying a microencapsulated pressure-sensitive adhesive to a film using a binder, and the like. It has the property of generating properties. Further, in this embodiment, the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A is housed in the adhesive tape cassette C. However, the present invention is not limited to this. May be configured.
[0008]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the cutting plotter 1. The plotting data input to the input / output control device 9 from the data input means such as the keyboard 7 or the host computer through the interface 8 is plotted by the CPU 10, the ROM 11, and the RAM 12. / Input to the printer control unit 13.
[0009]
The plotting data such as characters and symbols input from the keyboard 7 to the plotter / printer control unit 13 is displayed by the LCD display 15 after the plotter / printer control unit 13 transfers the data to the display unit drive circuit 14.
[0010]
The plotter unit 3 includes an X-axis motor drive circuit 16, a Y-axis motor drive circuit 17, a Z-axis actuator drive circuit 18, an X-axis motor 19, a Y-axis motor 20, and a Z-axis actuator 21.
[0011]
The thermal printer unit 4 includes a thermal head drive circuit 22, a thermal head 5, a platen roller drive circuit 23, and a platen roller drive motor 24. The plotter unit 3 and the thermal printer unit 4 control input / output of the plotter / printer controller 2. It is connected to the device 9.
[0012]
The drawing data input to the plotter / printer control unit 13 is processed according to an outline data calculation program 25 and a fill data calculation program 26 stored in the ROM 11.
[0013]
The CPU 10 develops outlines of characters and symbols based on the input character data such as characters and symbols based on format setting data such as character spacing, character size, and font designation, and an outline data calculation program 25, and generates a stroke data format. Compute outline data.
[0014]
When one of the margin removal mode and the character removal mode is selected and set by the keyboard 7, the fill dot data of the area outside the outline or the inside of the outline of the character or symbol, etc., based on the fill data calculation program 26 is set according to the mode setting. Calculate.
[0015]
When the margin removal mode is set, the fill dot data of the area outside the outline is generated. When the character removal mode is set, the fill dot data of the area inside the outline is generated, and the outline data and the fill dot data are stored in the RAM 12. To store.
[0016]
When the cutting execution code is input from the keyboard 7, the CPU 10 outputs the outline data written in the RAM 12 to the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis drive circuits 16, 17, and 18 of the plotter unit 3, and outputs the X-axis. The motor 19, the Y-axis motor 20, and the Z-axis actuator 21 are synchronously driven to perform outline cutting such as characters and symbols on the cutting sheet S.
[0017]
When the cutting sheet S for which the outline cutting has been completed is set in the thermal printer unit 4 and a print execution code is input, the thermal printer unit 4 starts up and enters a thermal transfer printing process. In the thermal transfer printing process, the plotter / printer control unit 13 synchronously controls the rotation of the platen roller drive motor 24 and the transfer of the solid dot data to the line type thermal head 5, and the platen roller 2 and the line type thermal head 5 shown in FIG. The printing is executed while the cutting sheet S and the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A sandwiched between the sheets are fed together.
[0018]
At this time, the heated portion of the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A generates an adhesive force and adheres to the cutting sheet S. When the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A is wound on a take-up reel in the adhesive tape cassette C, the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A The cutting sheet affixed to the adhesive tape A is peeled off from the release paper and wound up on a take-up reel together with the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A. Further, the cutting sheet from which the unnecessary portion has been peeled off from the release paper is discharged from the discharge port of the thermal printer unit 4.
[0019]
When the margin removal mode is set, a blank area other than the lettering sheet L of the cutting sheet S is transferred to the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A, and the cutting sheet leaving the lettering sheet L on the release paper RP as shown in FIG. S is discharged.
[0020]
When the character removal mode is set, an area equal to the area within the outline of the lettering sheet L is heated by the thermal head 5, and the lettering sheet L is transferred to the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A and peeled from the release paper RP. As shown in FIG. 4, the cutting sheet S leaving the white lettering sheet M on the release paper RP is discharged.
[0021]
As described above, by performing the thermal transfer printing process by the thermal printer unit 4, a manual operation of peeling and removing an unnecessary portion from the cutting sheet becomes unnecessary, and the transfer operation to the application sheet can be performed immediately.
[0022]
In another embodiment, a heat-sensitive adhesive tape is used as an application sheet. In this case, the thermal printer unit 4 shown in FIG. 1 is replaced with a configuration using an adhesive tape cassette C, but a configuration using a roll-type heat-sensitive adhesive tape is omitted (not shown). The mode setting function is configured to generate fill dot data for the area inside the outline from the outline cutting data in the margin removal mode and to generate the fill dot data for the area outside the outline in the character removal mode, which is the opposite of the above.
[0023]
With the above configuration, when the cutting sheet S after the outline cutting is set on the thermal printer unit 4 and the printing process is executed, the lettering sheet L is transferred to the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A and peeled off in the margin removal mode. The heat-sensitive adhesive tape A to which the lettering sheet L has been transferred and the cutting sheet S to which the lettering sheet L has been peeled are taken out.
[0024]
When the character removal mode is set, the area outside the outline of the lettering sheet L is transferred to the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A and peeled from the release paper RP, and the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A on which the white lettering sheet M is transferred, It is separated into the cutting sheet S from which the white lettering sheet M has been peeled off.
[0025]
Then, the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A on which the lettering sheet L or the white lettering sheet M has been transferred to the back surface is set at a target place, and the surface of the heat-sensitive adhesive tape A is rubbed with a squeegee. M is transferred to a target place, and the operation of transferring the lettering sheet L or the white lettering sheet M from the release paper RP to the application sheet becomes unnecessary.
[0026]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the present invention is configured such that the cutting plotter unit and the printer unit are integrally connected to perform cutting and printing continuously. Various modifications are possible within the technical scope, and it goes without saying that the present invention extends to those modifications.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, since the cutting plotter of the present invention transfers the blank portion of the cutting sheet obtained by cutting the outline of the character to the adhesive tape by the thermal printer unit and peels it off the release paper, the cutting created by the conventional cutting plotter is used. Unlike a sheet, it is not necessary to peel off a blank portion, and an unnecessary portion that has been peeled off does not stick to a peripheral portion or a necessary portion on release paper. Therefore, it is effective in reducing work labor and work time, and handling is remarkably easy.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of a cutting plotter according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the cutting plotter of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a cutting sheet from which a non-character area has been removed by the cutting plotter of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a cutting sheet from which a character area has been removed by the cutting plotter of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a cutting sheet cut by a cutting plotter.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 cutting plotter 2 plotter / printer control device 3 plotter unit 4 thermal printer unit 5 thermal head 6 platen roller 13 plotter / printer control unit 25 outline data calculation program 26 filling data calculation program A heat-sensitive adhesive tape C adhesive tape cassette S cutting sheet L Lettering sheet M Margin (white lettering sheet)
RP release paper

Claims (1)

A cutting control unit that performs arithmetic processing on outline data of characters and symbols based on input drawing data, and a cutting head driving device that drives the cutting head, drives the cutting head based on the outline data to cut the cutting sheet. In cutting plotter to create cutout and lettering sheet,
A means for filling and specifying an area outside or inside the outline of characters and symbols in the drawing area, means for calculating fill data of the specified area, and a thermal printer unit for performing thermal transfer printing based on the fill data,
By superimposing a cutting sheet outline-cut by the cutting head and a heat-sensitive adhesive tape and executing a thermal transfer printing step by the thermal printer unit, transferring a designated filling area of the cutting sheet to the heat-sensitive adhesive tape. A cutting plotter characterized by the following.

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