JPH0312558B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a pen printer that prints with a pen.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

A pen-writing printer prints characters, figures, etc. on the printing surface with a pen by holding a pen in the pen holder, bringing the pen into contact with the print surface, and moving the pen holder. The held pen is moved using the home position as a reference point. Note that this pen-writing printer includes a small printer (for example,
There are various types, from MAX's Cyadliner) to large ones that draw large shapes, etc.
The principle is the same as that of the X-Y plotter.

By the way, the pen used in the above-mentioned pen printer is removably attached to the pen holder of the printer, and can be replaced if you want to change the color or line thickness of the characters or figures printed on the print surface. However, with conventional pen-writing printers, only pens specifically designed for the printer can be used as pens. The problem was that the pen could not be used.

This is because the thickness of the body that is held in the pen holder for pens specifically designed for pen-writing printers is determined.
Writing pens such as ballpoint pens and felt pens have different thicknesses depending on their type, so you can hold this type of writing pen in the pen holder of the above-mentioned pen printer and use this pen. This is because when characters, glyphs, etc. are printed, the positions of the lines drawn by the pen become incorrect. In other words, the pen holder of a pen printer is generally
The structure is such that the body of the pen is held by a pen supporting part that receives the body of the pen from one side and a pen holder that presses and fixes the body of the pen against the pen supporting part from the other side. Therefore, the position of the pen tip of the pen held in the pen holder is a distance from the pen holder corresponding to the radius of the pen body (in the case of a pen where the pen tip is on the central axis of the body). Therefore, if the pens to be held in the pen holder are dedicated pens with the same body thickness and the same nib position, no matter which pen is held in the pen holder, the nib will be in the same position. However, if a pen with a body thickness different from that of the dedicated pen is held in the pen holder, the position of the pen tip will be different from the position of the pen tip when holding the dedicated pen. In that case, even if the pen holder is moved to the home position, the pen tip will not come to the home position. For this reason, if a pen with a body thickness different from that of the dedicated pen is held in the pen holder and printed, the pen tip will not touch the print surface at a position that is shifted from the pen tip position when using the dedicated pen. Because they touch each other, lines will be drawn at positions that are shifted from the lines drawn by the dedicated pen, and characters and figures will be printed out of their normal positions. If you replace the pen with a new one, the pitch of the printed characters will change from this point on, and the graphic lines will shift midway.

Therefore, with conventional pen-writing printers, writing pens such as ballpoint pens and felt-tipped pens cannot be used because the only option is to use a special pen.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to ensure that the body of the pen held in the pen holder is in the correct position no matter what thickness the pen is. To provide a pen-writing printer which can print correctly and can print using various pens generally used for writing without preparing a special pen.

[Summary of the invention]

That is, the present invention provides a printer mechanism that moves a pen holder to print with the pen held in the pen holder, and moves the pen holder to a pen attachment position when the pen is attached to the pen holder. , the support part is supported so as to be movable back and forth and left and right, and a pen nib holder is provided at the pen mounting position to receive the nib of a pen mounted on the pen holding part moved to the pen mounting position; A temporary home position is displayed on the pen nib holder, and this temporary home position is determined by the distance between the pen holder moved to the pen mounting position by the operation of the printer mechanism and the home position at the time of printing. A corresponding distance is provided at a position from the home position at the time of printing, and the pen tip of the pen attached to the pen holder is placed on the supporting portion of the printer mechanism by moving the entire printer mechanism back and forth and left and right. A pen tip position adjustment mechanism is provided to adjust the pen tip position to the temporary home position.

In other words, this invention corrects the misalignment of the pen tip position when pens with different body thicknesses are attached to the pen holder by moving the entire printer mechanism back and forth and left and right. Yes, after attaching the pen to the pen holder that has been moved to the pen attachment position, move the entire printer mechanism back and forth and left and right to align the pen tip of the pen attached to the pen holder with the temporary home position. For example, no matter what thickness the body of the pen held in the pen holder is, the pen tip can be adjusted to the temporary home position. If you make the printer mechanism move the pen holder to the home position when printing after adjusting the printer mechanism, the pen holder will be shifted from the home position when printing by the amount that the entire printer mechanism has been moved. Since the pen tip corresponds to the home position during printing, it is possible to print correctly at a regular position using this home position as a reference point.

[Embodiments of the invention]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking a self-propelled pen printer called a pen robot as an example.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a traveling body that runs on a print surface (for example, a printing paper surface), and this traveling body 1 has driving wheels 2 and 2 at the center of its front and rear sides, respectively. 2, and running wheels 3 made of ball wheels are provided at the center of both sides, and the printing surface is moved by the rotation of the driving wheels 2, 2. The driving wheels 2, 2 are rotationally driven by pulse motors 4, 4 via reduction gear mechanisms 5, 5, respectively, and the traveling body 1 is driven by the rotation of these two driving wheels 2, 2. The speed ratio is controlled so that the vehicle can travel straight or turn.

On the other hand, 10 is a printer mechanism mounted on the traveling body 1, and this printer mechanism 10 is covered with a cover 1a provided on the traveling body 1.
Although not shown, inside this cover 1a are a power supply battery for driving the traveling body 1 and printer mechanism 10, and a control device other than the self-propelled pen printer (for example, a personal computer with a printer control signal transmitter). A control circuit or the like is provided that receives a control signal (radio wave signal or optical signal) transmitted from a connected device and controls the traveling of the traveling body 1 and the printing operation of the printer mechanism 10.

Further, 11 is a pen holding arm provided in the printer mechanism 10, and the tip side of this arm 11 projects to the outside of the traveling body 1 through an opening 6 provided in the front surface of the cover 1a. 12 is a printer holding portion provided at the tip of this arm 11. This pen holder 12 can hold various pens commonly used for writing, such as ballpoint pens,
This pen holder 12 removably holds a pencil, felt pen, etc., and as shown in FIG. It has a set configuration. That is, this pen holding part 12 is
The body of the pen a, which is vertically inserted into the pen 3, is pressed and fixed against the inner surface of one side of the rectangular tube body 13 by the pen fixing screw 14. It is designed to hold pens 8 of various thicknesses, from pens to thin pens with small diameter bodies.

The printer mechanism 10 has a function of moving the arm 11 up and down to bring the tip of the pen a held in the pen holder 12 toward and away from the printing surface P, and by moving the arm 12 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. It is equipped with a character writing function (X-Y plotter function) that allows the pen a held in the pen holder 12 to draw characters, etc. Character writing performed by moving the pen a is performed by moving the traveling body 1. This is done by stopping the Note that each time the running body 1 finishes writing one character, it moves to the position where the next character is to be written and stops.
Further, the printer mechanism 10 is configured to once move the pen holder 12 to the home position when writing a character, and then move the pen holder 12 to allow the pen a to write the character.

Further, the pen holding portion 12 is
When attaching the pen a to the printer mechanism 1 or replacing the pen a held in the pen holder 12,
By the arm retracting operation of 0, the pen is moved to a pen mounting position that is out of the pen movement area during character writing. Although a description of the structure of this printer mechanism 10 will be omitted, examples of this printer mechanism 10 include, for example, a patent application filed by the applicant on the same day as the present application (title of invention: Small X-
Use a program such as YProt.

Further, on one side of the arm 11, there is a protrusion 11a that fits into a groove 6a formed on one side of the opening 6 of the cover 1a when the arm 11 is pulled in until the holding part 12 reaches the pen mounting position. The pen a is attached to and detached from the pen holder 12 while the vertical movement of the arm 11 is restrained by the engagement between the protrusion 11a and the groove 6a.

On the other hand, 7 is a projecting plate projecting forward from the lower edge of the front surface of the traveling body 1, and the projecting board 7 is extended to a length that does not interfere with the movement of the pen when writing characters. has been done. On the upper surface of the central portion of the tip side of the projecting plate 7, that is, the portion corresponding to the pen mounting position, a horizontal pen is provided to receive the nib of the pen a inserted into the rectangular cylinder 13 of the pen holder 12. The pen tip receiving surface 7a is recessed, and a temporary home position P1 is indicated on the pen tip receiving surface 7a by three mark lines 8, 8 as shown in FIG. . This temporary home position P1
is a predetermined distance from the home position at the time of printing, that is, the distance between the pen holder 12 moved to the pen mounting position by the arm retracting operation of the printer mechanism 10 and the home position at the time of printing. It is located at a distance.

Further, the printer mechanism 10 is supported on a printer mechanism support surface 8 on the upper surface of the traveling body 1 so as to be able to move laterally in the front, rear, left and right directions. That is, the first
In the figure and FIG. 3, 15 is the printer mechanism 1
One support leg supporting the center of the rear side of 0, 16,1
Reference numeral 7 denotes two support legs that support both ends of the front side of the printer mechanism 10, and these support legs 15, 16, 17
are fixed perpendicularly to the substrate 10a of the printer mechanism 10, respectively.

Among these support legs 15, 16, 17, one support leg 1 supports the center of the rear side of the printer mechanism 10.
5 has a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. The supporting legs 15 are movably supported on the printer mechanism supporting surface 8 via the leg members 15a. 18,
Reference numeral 18 denotes a pair of guide walls provided on the printer mechanism support surface 8, and the support legs 15 are connected to the foot members 1.
5a is guided by the pair of guide walls 18, 18, and moves only in the front-back direction (the front-back direction of the printer mechanism 10). Further, 19 is a nut located on the outer edge of the printer mechanism support surface 8 and fixed between the guide walls 18, 18, and 20 is a printer mechanism feed screw threadedly inserted into this nut 19. The feed screw 20 is provided along the front-rear direction of the printer mechanism 10, and its distal end is rotatably inserted into the foot member 15a of the support leg 15, and its proximal end is on the outside of the rear surface of the cover 1a. is prominent. Also, this feed screw 20
is adapted to be rotated by manually rotating a knob 20a provided at its base end, and when the feed screw 20 is rotated, the feed screw 20 screwed into the nut 19 is rotated. moves in the direction of its axis. Then, the foot member 1 of the support leg 15
5a is locked to the feed screw 20 so as to be moved forward and backward together with the feed screw 20 when the feed screw 20 moves in the axial direction. Therefore, by rotating the feed screw 20, the feed screw 20 When it is moved in the axial direction, the support legs 15 are also moved, and the entire printer mechanism 10 is moved in the front-back direction.

Also, one of the two support legs 16 and 17 supporting both ends of the front side of the printer mechanism 10
As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, it is shaped like a wide column with a larger width in the longitudinal direction of the printer mechanism 10, and its lower end is placed on the printer mechanism support surface 8. It is supported on the upper surfaces of a pair of provided guide walls 21, 21 so as to be able to slide back and forth and left and right. Further, on the lower end surface of this support leg 16, a horizontally long movable piece fitting groove 1 is provided along the width direction of the support leg 16.
6a is formed, and this moving piece fitting groove 16a
An upper end portion of a vertical shaft-shaped movable piece 22 is fitted therein so as to be movable only in the width direction of the support leg 16.
This moving piece 22 is connected to the pair of guide walls 21, 21.
The guide walls 21, 21 guide the guide walls 21, 21 to move in the left-right direction (width direction of the printer mechanism 10). A nut 23 is located at the outer edge of the printer mechanism support surface 8 and fixed between the guide walls 21, 21.
4 is a printer mechanism feed screw threadedly inserted into this nut 23. This feed screw 24 is provided along the width direction of the printer mechanism 10, and its distal end is rotatably inserted into the movable piece 22, and its proximal end is protruded to the outside of one side of the cover 1a. There is. This feed screw 24 is also rotated by manually rotating a knob 24a provided at its base end, and when this feed screw 24 is rotated, this feed screw screwed into the nut 23 is rotated. 24 moves in the axial direction. The movable piece 22 is locked to the feed screw 24 so as to move forward and backward together with the feed screw 24 when the feed screw 24 moves in the axial direction, and therefore rotates the feed screw 24. When the feed screw 24 is moved in the axial direction, the moving piece 22 also moves, thereby moving the support leg 15 and moving the entire printer mechanism 10 in its width direction (left-right direction). Note that in this case, the printer mechanism 10 has support legs 15 that support the center of the rear side of the printer mechanism 10.
It rotates around the foot member 15a. In addition, a movable piece fitting groove 16a formed on the lower end surface of the support leg 16
, in the width direction of the support leg 16, that is, in the printer mechanism 10
The reason why the horizontally long groove is formed along the front-rear direction is to prevent the moving piece 22 from interfering with the front-rear movement of the printer mechanism 10 when the printer mechanism 10 is moved in the front-rear direction.

On the other hand, the other support leg 17 of the two support legs 16 and 17 supporting both ends of the front side of the printer mechanism 10
is only in contact with the printer mechanism support surface 8 at its lower end so as to be slidable in the front, rear, left and right directions.

In addition, in Figures 1 and 3, 25, 2
Reference numeral 5 is provided near each of the support legs 15, 16, and 17 to support the printer mechanism 10 on the printer mechanism support surface 8.
These are tension coil springs that pull the printer mechanism 10 toward the printer mechanism support surface 8 to prevent it from shaking.
It's pressed on top.

This self-propelled pen-writing printer prints characters and the like by moving a pen a using a printer mechanism 10, and by moving a running body 1 to draw a figure while the pen a is stopped at a home position. In both cases, the pen tip of pen A is kept in contact with the printing surface during printing, and the pen holder 11 is raised at the same time as printing is completed. The pen tip is raised away from the print surface.

Next, the operation for exchanging the pen a held in the pen holder 12 will be explained. Now, assuming that the specified printing has been completed, at this time, the pen holding section 1
2 is raised to a state where the pen tip is separated from the print surface. When replacing the pen a, the arm 11 of the printer mechanism 10 is first retracted to move the pen holder 12 to the pen mounting position as shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows the state at this time, in which the pen holder 1
The pen tip of the pen a held by the pen 2 comes to a temporary home position P1 which is a predetermined distance L from the home position P0 at the time of printing. That is, when the printer mechanism 10 attaches or replaces the pen a, the arm 11 is retracted until the pen holder 12 is at a position a predetermined distance L from the home position P0 at the time of printing. On the other hand, since the temporary home position P1 is located at the predetermined distance L from the home position P0 during printing, the pen tip always comes to the temporary home position P1. Note that the pen holding section 12 is
It is not necessarily moved from the home position P0 at the time of printing to the pen mounting position, but may be moved to the pen mounting position from the position at the end of printing, which is far from the home position P0 at the time of printing. Even in this case, the pen tip always comes to the temporary home position P1.

After moving the pen holder 12 to the pen mounting position in this way, first remove the pen a held there from the pen holder 12, and then insert the pen a to be used into the pen holder 12 as shown in FIG. Attach it as shown by the chain line. This pen a is made by inserting the pen a into the rectangular cylinder 13 of the pen holding part 12, letting the pen tip receive the pen tip receiving surface 7a of the overhanging plate 7, and tightening the pen fixing screw 14 in this state. It is attached by fixing the pen a.

By the way, in this case, for example, if a pen a whose body is thinner than the previously used pen a is attached to the pen holder 12, then in this case, the pen a is attached to the previously held thick pen a. than arm 11
Since it is held in the pen holder 12 in a side-biased state, the tip of this pen a is at a position shifted by l from the temporary home position P1. In this case, the pen tip may deviate from the temporary home position P1 not only in the front-back direction but also in the left-right direction.

Therefore, in this case, the printer mechanism feed screw 20 that moves the printer mechanism 10 in the front and back direction,
The printer mechanism feed screw 24 that moves the printer mechanism 10 in the left and right direction and its knobs 20a, 24
A is rotated, and the printer mechanism feed screws 20 and 24 are moved in the axial direction to move the entire printer mechanism back and forth and left and right, thereby aligning the pen tip with the temporary home position P1.

After this, it is sufficient to cause the printer mechanism 10 to perform an arm push-out operation to return the pen holder 12 by the above-mentioned predetermined distance L to the home position P0 side at the time of printing. When the pen holder 12 is moved toward the home position P0, the pen holder 12 will be shifted from the home position P0 during printing by the amount that the entire printer mechanism has been moved back and forth and left and right to align the pen tip. Since the pen tip of pen a held in the pen holder 12 is at the home position P0 during printing as shown in FIG. It can be printed correctly in the correct position.

In other words, this self-propelled pen-writing printer corrects the misalignment of the pen tip position when pens a with different body thicknesses are attached to the pen holder 12 by moving the entire printer mechanism back and forth and left and right. After the pen a is attached to the pen holder 12 that has been moved to the pen attachment position, the entire printer mechanism is moved back and forth and left and right, and the pen a is attached to the pen holder 12. If the tip is aligned with the temporary home position P1, the pen holder 12
Regardless of the thickness of the pen body held in the pen, the pen tip can be aligned with the temporary home position P1, and the pen tip can be aligned with the temporary home position P1. After that, if the printer mechanism 10 is caused to move the pen holder 12 to the home position P0 at the time of printing,
The pen holder 12 deviates from the home position P0 during printing by the amount that the entire printer mechanism has moved, but the pen tip remains at the home position P during printing.
0, it is possible to correctly print at a regular position using this home position P0 as a reference point.

Although the above embodiment describes a self-propelled pen printer, the present invention can be widely applied to large X-Y plotters for drafting and other pen printers, and can also be used to move the printer mechanism back and forth and left and right. The mechanism for causing this is not limited to the above embodiment.

〔Effect of the invention〕

This invention corrects the misalignment of the pen tip position when pens with different body thicknesses are attached to the pen holder by moving the entire printer mechanism back and forth and left and right. , it is possible to correctly print at a regular position no matter what thickness the pen body held in the pen holder is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view of a self-propelled pen printer, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views and a portion of the self-propelled pen printer. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the pen holder, FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the pen tip receiving surface, FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of section A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C in Figure 6, Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective view of part B in Figure 1, and Figures 9 and 10 are taken along line D-D and line E-E in Figure 8. The sectional view, FIGS. 11 and 12 are explanatory diagrams of the pen exchange operation. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Traveling body, 7... Extension plate, 7a... Pen tip receiving surface, 8... Printer mechanism support surface, 10... Printer mechanism, 11... Arm, 12... Pen holding part, 20, 24 ...Printer mechanism feed screw, a...
...Pen, P0... Home position when printing, P1... Temporary home position.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a pen printer that prints with a pen, the pen holder is moved to perform printing with the pen held in the pen holder, and when the pen is attached to the pen holder, the pen holder is moved A printer mechanism to be moved to the mounting position is supported by its support portion so as to be movable back and forth and left and right with respect to the main body of the pen writing printer, and is mounted to the pen holding portion at the pen mounting position. A pen nib holder is provided to receive the nib of the pen, and a temporary home position is displayed on the nib holder, and this temporary home position is the pen that has been moved to the pen mounting position by the operation of the printer mechanism. It is provided at a position separated from the home position during printing by the distance between the holding section and the pen holding section at the home position during printing, and further, the entire printer mechanism is provided at the support section of the printer mechanism. 1. A pen-writing printer characterized in that a pen-tip position adjustment mechanism is provided for moving the pen tip back and forth and left and right to align the pen tip of the pen attached to the pen holder with the temporary home position.