JPH0461108B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically cutting sheet-like members according to paper patterns, and is particularly suitable for use when the sheet-like member to be cut has a colored pattern. It is about what is suitable.

(Prior Art) In recent years, automatic cutting devices have been used in various fields, and have been particularly widely introduced in the apparel industry where large amounts of fabric are cut into various shapes.

An example of a conventional automatic cutting device will be described below with reference to FIG.

The main body 200 of the automatic cutting device is driven by a control console 100 that includes an MT (magnetic tape) device 11, an FD (floppy disk) device 12, a control device 13, etc. A Y beam 8 is driven on the rail 6 in the direction of arrow X by the X-axis drive section 4, and the cutting head 3 is driven on the Y-rail 7 provided on the Y-beam 8 by the Y-axis drive section 5. It is configured to be driven in the direction of arrow Y.

A sheet material 2 to be cut is placed on a cutting head 1 of a main body 200 of the automatic control device, and a cutting bed connected to a suction device 9 is placed to fix the sheet material 2 to be cut onto the cutting bed 1. A sheet-shaped member 2 to be cut is adsorbed onto a cutting bed 1 through a large number of small holes (not shown) provided on the surface.

Generally, the sheet-like member 2 to be cut is often made of woven fibrous fabric, so if the sheet-like member 2 to be cut is made of such a breathable material, the sheet-like member 2 to be cut is Furthermore, non-breathable sheet 1
0 on top of each other to help adsorption.

In cutting the sheet material 2 to be cut into various shapes, first, cutting data for each part is created using a CAD (computer-aided design) device, and then cut data is created for each part using the MT device 11 or FD device of the control console 100 of the automatic cutting device. 12, and the control device 13 controls the main body 200 of the automatic cutting device.

The cutting head 3 moves on the cutting bed 1 according to the cutting data, and the cutter provided on the cutting head 3 moves up and down as necessary, and the direction of the cutter is oriented in the cutting direction during cutting. The sheet-like member 2 to be cut is cut according to the cutting data. When the sheet-like member 2 to be cut is a non-breathable sheet, there is no need to stack the non-breathable sheets 10 on top of each other.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Each part can be cut into a desired shape from the sheet-like member 2 to be cut as described above, but when the sheet-like member 2 to be cut has a color pattern, , it is often necessary to match the color pattern of each cut part.

In this way, the method of cutting the cut parts while matching the color pattern is to input the color pattern of the sheet material 2 to be cut placed on the cutting bed 1 into the CAD device by some method, and then It is possible to arrange the parts according to the pattern and output the cutting data for cutting, but it is not only difficult to read the color pattern and input it into the CAD device, but also the storage capacity of that data is enormous. , and its processing is also difficult.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to cut parts with matching color patterns from a sheet to be cut with a color pattern, a pattern was first created, the pattern was placed on the sheet material to be cut with a color pattern, and the color was manually cut. A method has been adopted in which the sheet material to be cut is cut by matching the patterns.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and provides a cutting method that can easily cut parts with matching color patterns from a cut sheet member having a color pattern, and a cutting device using the method.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The method for cutting pattern-matching sheet-like members according to the present invention includes an X-axis drive unit and a Y-axis drive unit for moving the cutting head in all directions on the cutting bed, and a cutting device main body, comprising: a suction device for covering and suctioning and fixing the breathable sheet member to be cut with a non-breathable sheet in order to hold the entire sheet-like member to be cut having air permeability spread out on the cutting bed; ,
A control device part for controlling the cutting device main body, and a sheet-like material cutting device for cutting a sheet-like material to be cut by a cutter provided in the cutting head, wherein the cutting head has a control device section for controlling the cutting device main body, and the sheet-like material cutting device cuts a sheet-like material to be cut by a cutter provided on the cutting head. CCD (charge-coupled device) that images
In addition to mounting a camera, a separately prepared pattern paper is placed on the non-breathable sheet, and the pattern of the sheet-like member to be cut underneath can be visually identified as the non-breathable sheet, and a CCD camera is used. By using a special transparent sheet colored in a color that allows the brightness of the pattern to be distinguished from the brightness of all the color patterns of the sheet material to be cut, a CCD camera is made unable to detect the pattern of the sheet material to be cut. , the paper pattern is visually and manually positioned in accordance with the pattern of the sheet-like member to be cut below, and the outline of the paper pattern is continuously and automatically cut from one point on the outline by the CCD camera and automatically by the control unit. The method is characterized in that it tracks and stores the outline, converts the outline into cutting data, and then cuts the sheet-like member to be cut in accordance with the cutting data.

The sheet-like member cutting device for carrying out the above-described pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting method according to the present invention includes a graphic display in the control device portion for checking the outline of the pattern tracked and stored by a CCD camera; The present invention is characterized in that it is equipped with a monitor television for observing the image of the upper surface of the cut bed being imaged by a CCD camera.

Further, in an embodiment of the pattern matching sheet member cutting method according to the present invention, in the pattern matching sheet member cutting method using the pattern matching sheet member cutting device described above, a plurality of patterns are placed on the special sheet. When the outlines of all the patterns are stored in sequence, the coordinate position of one point on the outline of each of these patterns is sequentially stored in the control unit, so that the outlines of all the patterns are automatically tracked and stored in sequence, and the cutting data is stored. The feature is that the parts corresponding to all the paper patterns are cut after converting the pattern into .

The sheet-like member cutting device for carrying out the sheet-like member cutting method of this embodiment is equipped with a manual cutting head movement mechanism, and also inputs and stores the coordinate position of one point on each contour and the management information of its pattern. The invention is characterized by comprising a mechanism for forcing.

(Function) In the pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting method of the present invention, a separately prepared pattern is placed on the non-breathable sheet covering the sheet-like member to be cut spread out on the cutting bed. The pattern is positioned and placed by visual input according to the color pattern, and the outline of this pattern is memorized by a CCD camera mounted on the cutting head, but unlike conventional methods, a colorless and transparent non-breathable sheet is used. If there is a part of the color pattern of the sheet-like member to be cut that has the same color or the same brightness as the paper pattern placed on it, it becomes impossible for the CCD camera to memorize the outline of the paper pattern.

If the color of the paper pattern is different from all the colors and patterns of the sheet-like material to be cut, it is possible to trace the outline.
Actual sheet-like members to be cut, especially when they are fabrics for women's wear, are very colorful, and it is extremely difficult to separately prepare patterns in different colors for all the patterns.

Therefore, in the present invention, the pattern of the lower sheet-like member to be cut can be visually determined by looking through it, and
The CCD camera uses a special transparent sheet as a non-breathable sheet that focuses on colors that can distinguish between the brightness of the paper pattern and the brightness of all the color patterns of the sheet material to be cut. The pattern of the shaped member cannot be detected, and the outline of the paper pattern can be tracked.

The commonly used paper patterns are often cream-colored, and when using cream-colored paper patterns, the color pattern of the sheet-like material to be cut can be improved by using either a red transparent sheet or a blue transparent sheet as a special sheet. No matter what the pattern is, it is possible to visually discern the pattern of the sheet material to be cut underneath, and the CCD camera can distinguish between the brightness of the pattern and the brightness of seeing through all the color patterns of the sheet material to be cut. The pattern can be identified as it is brighter.

Various methods for automatically tracking and storing the contours of figures have already been announced, and one example of a method for tracing and storing the contours of paper patterns using a CCD camera is briefly explained below. Move the cutting head manually, and when the outline of the pattern appears in the image taken by the mounted CCD camera, while watching the TV monitor, make sure that the center of the image (the center of the CCD camera) is at any point on the outline. After adjusting the position of the center point and storing the coordinates (X ₁ , Y ₁ ) (hereinafter referred to as world coordinate system coordinates) for the entire cutting head, tracing of the contour is started. The brightness and darkness on the screen of the CCD camera are converted into binary levels, and the coordinates (x, y) of each pixel on the screen on the boundary line passing through the center point (hereinafter referred to as local coordinate system coordinates) are all converted to the world coordinates of the center point. By adding to the system coordinates, the coordinates of each point on the contour are stored in the world coordinate system. of this outline
Letting the coordinates of one end of the CCD camera screen be (X ₂ , Y ₂ ), the cutting head is automatically moved by the control device so that the center of the CCD camera screen comes to this point. The center of the screen is the coordinate (X ₂ ,
After reaching Y ₂ ), the brightness and darkness on the screen are converted to binary levels,
The local coordinates on the boundary line passing through the center point are added to the world coordinates (X ₂ , Y ₂ ), and each point on the contour other than those previously stored is stored in the world coordinate system. Assuming that the end of this newly memorized contour in the screen is (X ₃ , Y ₃ ), the center of the CCD camera screen is automatically moved to this point. By repeating the above operation, the contour always forms a closed loop, so the starting point (X ₁ ,
Since there will be a portion that overlaps with the world coordinates of the contour memorized in step Y ₁ ), only the world coordinates of the contour of the non-overlapping portion will be memorized and the tracing and memorization of the outline of this pattern will be completed. .

The outline of the paper pattern tracked and memorized in this way is
It is displayed on a graphic display provided in the control unit and can be confirmed by the operator.

Although the tracking storage method described above may be performed for a plurality of patterns, this may result in the operator wasting time during the automatic tracking period. Therefore, in the present invention, when a plurality of paper patterns are placed on a special sheet, the cutting head is manually moved sequentially for all the paper patterns placed on the sheet, and an arbitrary point on the outline of each pattern is cut. The coordinates of are input into the control unit as described above, and the management information of each pattern is also manually input and stored in the control unit in sequence, after which automatic tracking storage is started. As a result, when the automatic tracking and memory of the outline of a certain pattern is finished, it automatically moves to a specified point on the outline of the next pattern, automatically traces and stores the outline of that pattern, and sequentially stores all the patterns. The contour is automatically tracked and memorized.

The management information to be input together with the coordinates of any one point on the outline of each pattern should include the number of all placed patterns, the outline tracing order of the pattern, and information such as the part name of each pattern. For example, it can be conveniently displayed on a graphic display.

After completing automatic tracking and memorization of all pattern outlines,
When actually cutting the sheet material to be cut,
The outline information of the paper pattern stored as described above is converted into cutting data. In addition to the moving speed of the cutting head according to the shape of the outline, the cutting data includes information on how to raise the cutter once to change the cutter direction and then lower the cutter in the event of a sudden direction change, and information on how to move the cutter in the cutting direction at all times during cutting. Contains information for directing Of course, the cutting data is created so that the cutting head moves by taking into account the offset between the positions of the CCD camera and the cutter.

After converting the pattern outline information of the cutting data, when actually cutting the sheet material to be cut,
It is desirable to perform this after removing the paper pattern placed on the special sheet.

By using the method of cutting pattern-matching sheet-like members according to the present invention, the cutting device using this method has a simple configuration and a relatively small storage capacity, making it possible to perform pattern-matching cutting that does not require human labor for the cutting itself. .

(Example) Hereinafter, one example of the present invention will be described using the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view with the main part of the cutting head section cut away, and is the same as or similar to FIG. 3. Parts having the same function are given the same reference numerals.

The main body 201 of the automatic cutting device of this embodiment differs from the main body 200 of FIG. The sheet-shaped member 2 to be cut having breathability expanded to have a color pattern, and a non-breathable sheet 10 covering the entirety thereof.
has been changed to a special sheet 20. In this example, a transparent nylon sheet colored red was used as the special sheet 20, but this is because the separately prepared pattern paper placed on it is cream-colored, and the color of the pattern paper used and the covering are Depending on the color pattern of the cut sheet-like member, it may be preferable to use a blue-colored transparent nylon sheet.

After the sheet-like member 2 to be cut is covered with the special sheet 20, the sheet-like member 2 to be cut is fixed in an expanded state on the cutting bed 1 by operating the suction device 9. .

Since the pattern of the sheet member 2 to be cut below can be seen through the special sheet 20, a plurality of paper patterns 21 to 23 are placed on the special sheet 20, positioned according to the pattern. In the figure, only three patterns 21 to 23 are shown to avoid complication, but
In reality, a large number of sheets are placed within the expanded range of the sheet-like member 2 to be cut. In this embodiment, the paper patterns 21 to 23 are cream-colored, but they may be of other colors, and it is preferable to use paper patterns of as bright a color as possible.

The cutting head 30 that can move on the Y beam 8 is equipped with a CCD camera 31 and a light 3 in addition to the cutter 32.
4 and perforation marker 33 are mounted, and the cutter 32 and perforation marker 33 can be moved up and down by a vertical mechanism (not shown), respectively.
The cutter 32 is configured such that its cutting edge can be directed in all directions by a cutter motor 35.

Control console 3 which is the control device part of this automatic cutting device
00 is a console 101 used for manually moving the cutting head 30, a data processing device 103 including a storage device for various information, and a graphic data processor for checking the outline of the pattern that has been memorized. Spray 102 and CCD camera 3
1 includes a monitor television 104 for observing an image of the upper surface of the cutting bed 1 being imaged.

A method of cutting a sheet-like member to be cut using this apparatus will be explained in order below. As described above, when a plurality of necessary paper patterns 21 to 23 are positioned and placed on the special sheet 10 covering the sheet-like member 2 to be cut, in accordance with the pattern of the sheet-like member 2 to be cut,
Start tracking and memorizing the outlines of these patterns.

While visually observing the current position of the cutting head 30, the console 101 of the control console 300 is operated to move the cutting head 30 toward the outline of the first target pattern 21. An image of the upper surface of the cutting bed 1 illuminated by the two lights 34 captured by the CCD camera 31 is displayed on the screen of the monitor television 104, and after the outline of the target pattern 21 is seen on the screen, When an arbitrary point on the outline is captured at the center of the screen by operating the console 101 while observing the screen, the coordinates of the world coordinate system of the center point of the screen that appear on the console 101 are input from the console 101 to the data processing device 103 and stored. urge After this operation, the pattern is given a predetermined code indicating the first of three patterns, such as 1/3, and information for managing this pattern, such as the one for the right sleeve of No. 9 in the Y typeface. A code indicating that
input from the input keyboard (not shown).

Note that the world coordinate system coordinates of an arbitrary point on the outline of the paper pattern can be determined by displaying the coordinates on the screen of the monitor television 104 without adjusting the position of the cutting head 30 so that the point appears at the center of the screen of the monitor television 104. When a point appears, the coordinates of the point in the world coordinate system are calculated from the world coordinate system coordinates of the center point of the screen at that time and the local coordinate system coordinates of that point on the screen, and the coordinates of the point are calculated on the console 101. It may also be input from the keyboard.

Next, in accordance with the above-described procedure, the world coordinate system coordinates of arbitrary points on the contours of the patterns 22 and 23 and the management information of those patterns are sequentially input.

When the input of the world coordinate system coordinates of an arbitrary point on the outline and the management information of those patterns for all the patterns is completed, the operator
1 to command the start of automatic tracking and storage of the outline of the paper pattern.

In accordance with the stored information, the data processing device 103 traces and stores the contour from a point on the contour of the paper pattern 21 that is specified first, in accordance with the procedure previously explained in the operation section. When the tracing and storing of the outline of the pattern 21 is completed, the process automatically moves on to tracing the outline of the next specified pattern 22, and when the tracing and storing of the outline of all the patterns is completed sequentially, a buzzer or a signal lamp etc. is activated to trace and store the outline. Notify the operator of the completion of the process.

The operator checks the outlines of all the patterns displayed on the graphic display and the information for managing those patterns, and if there are no abnormalities, the operator can check the parts that require non-closed loop cutting, such as buttonholes and pocket holes. Some items are picked up using something like a mouse (not shown) and input and stored in the data processing device 103.

In addition to having the ability to display the entire stored contents on the graphic display 102, the data processing device 103 also has simple editing, enlargement, and reduction display functions, so that the results of input using the mouse can also be checked.

After completing all the checks, the operator removes all the patterns placed on the special sheet 20, and then issues a cutting command from the console 101.
As a result, the data processing device 103 converts the cutting data from the stored contour information of all the patterns and the information of the cut portions that are not closed loops into the cutting data using the CCD camera 31 on the cutting head 30, the cutter 32, and the perforation as explained in the operation section. After considering the offset of the marker 33, the moving direction and speed of the cutting head 30 according to the cutting shape, the vertical movement command of the cutter 32 and perforation marker 33, and information for directing the cutting edge of the cutter 32 in the cutting direction. etc. to be created. Here, the perforation marker 33 performs a lowering operation at the buttonhole position to perforate the sheet-like member 2 to be cut.

In this way, after converting all the outlines of the pattern and other cutting information into cutting data, control information is sent from the data processing device 103 to the main body 201 of the automatic cutting device according to the cutting data, and the cutting head 30 is controlled. moving or stopping, moving the cutter 32 or perforation marker 33 up and down, or directing the cutting edge of the cutter 32 in the cutting direction,
The sheet member 2 to be cut is cut into a predetermined shape together with the special sheet 20.

This completes the predetermined cutting procedure and prepares for the next cutting.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail using one embodiment, according to the method of cutting sheet-like members for pattern matching according to the present invention, pattern matching cutting can be performed by an automatic cutting device without manual cutting. The pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting device using this method has a simple structure, requires relatively little storage capacity, and can be made inexpensive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting device according to the present invention, FIG.
The figure is a perspective view of an example of a conventional automatic cutting device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Cutting head, 2... Sheet-shaped member to be cut, 3, 30... Cutting head, 4... X-axis drive section, 5... Y-axis drive section, 6... X rail, 7...
Y rail, 8...Y beam, 9...Adsorption device, 1
0...Non-breathable sheet, 11...MT device, 12
...FO device, 13...Control device, 20...Special sheet, 21-23...Paper pattern, 100,300...
...Control console, 101...Console, 102...Graphic display, 103...Data processing device, 104...Monitor television, 200, 201
...Body.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An X-axis drive unit and a Y-axis drive unit for moving the cutting head in all directions on the cutting bed, and an air permeable area on the cutting bed facing the cutting head. a cutting device main body that includes a suction device that covers the entire sheet-like member to be cut with an air-impermeable sheet and fixes it by suction in order to hold the entire sheet-like member on the cutting bed;
A sheet-like member cutting method using a sheet-like member cutting device having a control device portion for controlling the cutting device main body and cutting a sheet-like member to be cut by a cutter provided in the cutting head, A CCD camera is mounted on the cutting head to take an image of the upper surface of the cutting bed, and a separately prepared pattern is placed on the non-breathable sheet, and the pattern of the sheet material to be cut below is placed on the non-breathable sheet. Using a special transparent sheet colored in a color that can be visually identified by seeing through it, and a CCD camera can distinguish between the brightness of the paper pattern and the brightness of all the color patterns of the sheet material to be cut, the CCD camera The pattern of the sheet material to be cut cannot be detected, the pattern is manually positioned by visual inspection in accordance with the pattern of the sheet material to be cut below, and the outline of the pattern is captured by the CCD camera from a point on the outline. Therefore, the pattern matching sheet is characterized in that the contour is continuously and automatically tracked and stored by the control device section, the contour is converted into cutting data, and the sheet-like member to be cut is cut in accordance with the cutting data. How to cut shaped parts. 2. In order to carry out the pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting method according to claim 1, a graphic display for checking the outline of the paper pattern tracked and stored by the CCD camera is provided in the control device part, and a graphic display for checking the outline of the paper pattern tracked and memorized by the CCD camera is provided. 1. A pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting device comprising a television monitor for observing an image on the upper surface of a cutting head. 3. In the pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting method using the pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting device according to claim 2, when a plurality of paper patterns are placed on the special sheet, one point on the outline of each of these paper patterns. By sequentially storing the coordinate positions in the control device part, the contours of all the paper patterns are automatically tracked and stored in sequence, converted to cutting data, and then parts corresponding to all the paper patterns are cut. A pattern-matching sheet-like material cutting method characterized by: 4. In order to carry out the pattern matching sheet-like member cutting method according to claim 3, a mechanism for manually moving the cutting head is provided, and a mechanism for inputting and storing the coordinate position of one point on each contour and the management information of the pattern. A pattern-matching sheet-like member cutting device comprising: