JPH054916B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention has a pen stocker on the machine body side that holds a plurality of recording pens each having a built-in writing lead, and the recording pens can be mutually exchanged between the pen stocker and the drawing head. This invention relates to a recording pen exchange control method for an automatic drafting machine.

[Conventional technology]

A drafting device that holds a plurality of lead writing instruments, selects one of them to draw, and when it detects that the writing instrument has no lead, selects the writing instrument in the next order and draws. It is disclosed in Publication No. 53-91768. This device holds a plurality of lead writing implements on a drum rotatably disposed in a drawing head.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

When a drum holding a plurality of lead writing implements is disposed in the drawing head as in the above-mentioned conventional device, the drum cannot be replenished with lead writing implements during drawing because the drawing head moves during drawing. Therefore, if all the lead writing instruments in the drum are used up, the drawing operation must be stopped and the drum must be refilled with lead, making it impossible to continue drawing for a long time. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to enable core replenishment without stopping the drawing operation, thereby making it possible to draw images for a long time.

[Means to solve problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a pen stocker disposed on the machine body side that holds a plurality of recording pens each having a built-in consumable writing lead, and allows mutual exchange of recording pens between the pen stocker and the drawing head. In an automatic drawing machine controlled by a computer, the number N of recording pens attached to the pen stocker is set, the number N can be updated, and the desired number of recording pens in the pen stocker is set by a pen change command. Before the drawing head holding the recording pen in the order of 1 moves to drawing operation in response to a drawing command, the drawing head checks the presence or absence of a lead in the recording pen held by the drawing head, and checks if the remaining lead of the recording pen is less than a specified amount. At this time, the computer confirms that there is no lead and subtracts 1 from the number N, and the drawing head returns the leadless recording pen to the pen stocker and holds the recording pen next to the pen stocker. Check whether there is a lead in the recording pen, and if there is a lead, move to drawing operation based on the drawing command, and if it is confirmed that there is no lead, subtract 1 from the number N above,
The above operation is repeated until the numerical value N becomes zero, and when the numerical value N becomes zero, the drawing head is stopped at a predetermined position and the drawing operation is performed in order to replenish the lead of the recording pen on the pen stocker side. It was designed to be interrupted.

[Effect]

In the above control method, the operator:
Occasionally, monitor the drawing status of the automatic drafting machine, and if the number of recording pens without leads increases among the multiple recording pens in the pen stocker, remove the recording pens without leads from the pen stocker and replace them with new leads. refill and return the recording pen to its original location. This work can be performed without interrupting the drawing process. If the numerical value N stored in the computer is automatically updated for each drawing operation, or manually after replenishing the lead in the recording pen on the pen stocker side, the automatic drafting machine can continue drawing operations for a long time. You can continue.

〔Example〕

The structure of the present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 9, 2 is the body of an X-Y plotter, and a Y rail 6 is disposed on a table 4 so as to be movable along the X coordinate axis direction, and a plotting head 8 is movably disposed on the Y rail 6. installed on. As shown in FIG. 3, the printing head 8 includes a pen holding frame 12 fixed to an elevating body 10 made of a non-magnetic material such as aluminum, and one end of which is connected to the elevating body 10.
A pen holder 16 is provided on the pen holder 16, which is rotatably supported on a plane parallel to the 4th surface of the table, and includes a pen holding arm 14 whose open end side is biased in a direction approaching the pen holding frame 12. A recording pen 18 having a built-in automatic lead feeding mechanism is removably held in the pen holder 16. The elevating body 10 has a guide shaft 2 fixed to the base plate of the head 8.
0, and the elevating body 10 is urged upward by a coil spring 22.
A solenoid 24 is fixed to the base plate of the head 8, and its output shaft faces the protrusion 10a formed on the elevating body 10. The solenoid 24 is the CPU 30 of the microcomputer (see Figure 2).
The pen up/down control circuit 32 of the controller is connected to the pen up/down control circuit 32 of the controller. 33 is a pen holding detector disposed on the elevating body 10, and is constituted by a limit switch. The Y rail 6 and the image head 8 are controlled by a motor control circuit 35.
It is linked to XY motors (not shown) and is sent to a predetermined position on the table 4 by these drives.
38 is a pen stocker in which a plurality of recording pens 18 are held. The drawing head 8 is moved to the empty holding part 38a of the pen stocker 38 by means of a pen change command programmed into the computer, the pen holder 16 is positioned in the holding part 38a, and then the drawing head is moved. 8 away from the holding part 38a, the recording pen 18 held in the pen holder 16 is transferred to the holding part 38a by a known pen exchange mechanism (not shown) built in the pen stocker 38, and the pen stocker 38 moves the recording pen 18 to the holding part 38a. The exchange is configured to take place. In addition, by the pen change command, the drawing head 8 that does not hold a recording pen is moved to the holding section 38 of the pen stocker 38 that holds a recording pen.
b, and move the pen holder 16 to the holding part 38.
When the printing head 8 is moved away from the holding part 38b, the recording pen held in the holding part 38b is held in the pen holder 16 of the printing bed 8 by the pen exchange mechanism. The device is configured so that the pen can be exchanged. Reference numeral 39 denotes a coreless detector consisting of a magnetic flux detector, which is fixed to the substrate of the head 8. It is fixedly installed opposite to the magnet 59.

Next, the internal structure of the recording pen will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

40 is a holder cylinder, and a guide cylinder 42 is fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the holder cylinder. A head block 44 has an annular collar 44a formed on its outer periphery, and the lower part of the block 44 is fixed to the upper part of the guide tube 42. A shaft hole is provided in the center of the block 44 for slidably holding a consumable writing lead 46 made of a lead lead. A tapered surface 42a whose diameter expands downward is formed on the lower inner wall surface of the guide tube 42. 4
Reference numerals 8 and 50 designate a pair of core chucks, and curved surfaces 48a and 50a are formed at their lower portions so that the widths of the core chucks 48 and 50 increase downward. The tapered surface 42a and the curved surface 48
A plurality of steel balls 52 are arranged between the steel balls 50a and 50a. The pair of core chucks 48, 50 are urged upward by the elastic force of the coil spring. Reference numeral 54 denotes a bottomed cylindrical body fixed to the lower part of the holder cylinder 40, and the outer circumferential surface of the flange of the core holding tube 56 is slidably fitted into the inner circumferential surface of this. The lower half of the holding tube 56 is connected to the cylindrical body 5
It protrudes downward from a hole formed in the bottom of 4. A coil spring is compressed and disposed between the upper surface of the flange of the holding tube 56 and the lower surface of the core chucks 48, 50. Reference numeral 57 denotes an annular rubber body, which is fixed to the upper end of the holding tube 56 , and the diameter of the shaft hole of the rubber body 57 is formed to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the core 46 . The shaft hole of the block 44, the core chucks 48, 50, the shaft hole of the rubber body 57, and the holding tube 5
A single core 46 is inserted into the core 6 . 7
0 is a pen type discriminator that is classified by core diameter or core color, and is constituted by a detector that reads a barcode 72 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the recording pen 18. In FIG. 2, 60 is an interface circuit connected to a host computer. 62 is a pen type memory, and 64 is an x counter, in which a predetermined preset value is set for each drawing operation, and the counter 64 is connected to a pen number designation circuit 66. 68 is an N counter, which is reset and set to a predetermined preset value N for each drawing operation.
It is configured to subtract pulses from the CPU 30. 69 is a pen type comparison circuit. 72
1 is a pen presence/absence determination circuit for inputting the number N of pens installed in the pen stocker 38, that is, the pen line section, to the CPU 30, and is constituted by a data input device consisting of a keyboard. The pen presence/absence determination circuit 72 is provided with a pen detector or a pen detection switch for each pen holding portion of the pen stocker 38, and inputs the output signal of the pen detector etc. to the CPU 30 through a data in switch. Then, the number N of pens installed may be input to the CPU 30.
The head block 44 and other components of the recording pen are made of a transparent body, so that the remaining amount of the lead 46 in the recording pen 18 can be seen from the outside.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, a new long lead 46 is set in the recording pen 18. The lower end of the core 46 is exactly connected to the core holding tube 56.
The amount of protrusion is set to match the bottom edge of. The recording pen 18 with a new lead set is attached to each holder of the pen stocker 38, and the pen presence/absence determination circuit 72 sets the number of pen devices (N=8). Next, when you press the remote switch 74,
N=8 is input to the CPU 30 (step 1).
As a result, the N counter 68 is reset and the N counter 68 is reset.
=8 is preset. Next, a command is input to the CPU 30 from the host computer (step 2). It is determined whether the above command is a pen change command (step 3), and if it is a pen change command, the CPU 30 analyzes the pen change command, and determines whether the pen change target is the recording pen of the holding section of the pen stocker 38. (Step 4) pen stocker 3
As shown in Fig. 9, each holding part of No. 0 is
A number x up to NO.8 is assigned, the pen-engine command specifies the above number x, and the CPU 30
The x counter 64 is preset to a value corresponding to the number x, and the x counter 64 is also reset. Based on the pen engine command, the CPU 30 outputs forward and reverse drive pulses to drive the motor control circuit 35, controls the movement of the print head 8 in the pen engine mode, and attaches the NOx recording pen to the print head 8. 18 is held as shown in FIG. 3 (Step 5). At this time, the pen type discriminator 70
determines the type of recording pen 18 from the barcode 72 of the recording pen 18, and sends the determination signal to the CPU 30.
Enter. The CPU 30 creates pen type data based on the discrimination signal and stores the data in the pen type memory 62 (step 6). Next, when a drawing command is input from the host computer, the CPU 30 confirms the drawing command (step 7) and instructs the drawing head 8 to perform a center check operation. This core checking operation is performed in the following manner. (Step 8). The CPU 30 includes a control circuit 32
outputs a pen down signal. As a result, the solenoid 24 is energized and the rod of the solenoid 24 is lowered as shown in FIG. As a result of this descent, the elevating body 10 is lowered, and the recording pen 18 held in the pen holder 16 is lowered, so that the tip of the lead 46 in the recording pen 18 is placed on the table 4 as shown in FIG.
It comes into elastic contact with the upper drawing surface with a predetermined pressure due to the excitation force of the solenoid 24. When the core 46 comes into pressure contact with the drawing paper,
The lead 46 is pressed against the lead chuck 4 by pressure from the drawing paper.
It is going to rise relative to 8.50. In the core chucks 48 and 50, the steel ball 52, which the core 46 is about to rise, bites tightly between the curved surface 48a and the tapered surface 42a, and the steel ball 52 causes the chuck 4 to rise.
8 and 48a are pressurized in a direction toward each other.
This pressurizing force causes the core 46 to connect to the chuck pieces 48,4.
Movement in the upward direction relative to 8a is prevented.
When the lower end of the core 46 comes into pressure contact with the drawing paper, that is, the drawing surface on the table 4, the descent of the elevating body 10 is stopped. At this time, since the permanent magnet 59 is located above the coreless detector 39 by a predetermined distance, the coreless detector 39
9 does not output a no/no signal. This will cause the CPU
30 determines whether there is a core. If there is no lead in the recording pen 18, or if the lead is worn out and on the verge of no lead as shown in FIG. The body 10 is lowered to a position where the permanent magnet 59 closely opposes the coreless detector 39, and as a result of this lowering, the coreless detector 39 outputs a coreless signal.
When the CPU 30 outputs a pen down signal twice and the detector 39 outputs a coreless signal twice in a row,
Based on the signal, the CPU 30 determines whether there is a core.
When the core presence state is confirmed by the core check operation described above (step 9), a pulse is supplied to the motor control circuit 35 based on the plotting command, the XY motor is driven, and the drawing head 8 is placed on the table 4. The robot moves in a predetermined direction in a plane parallel to the drawing paper, and a drawing is drawn on the drawing paper (step 10). During this drawing,
While the lead 46 is secured to the lead chucks 48, 50, its tips are worn away. As the tip of the lead 46 wears away, the elevating body 10 and the pen holder 16 are lowered by the excitation force of the solenoid 24, and the pressure between the lower end of the lead 46 and the drawing surface is maintained constant. This core 4
6 Due to the wear at the lower end, the holding tube 56 rises relative to the cylinder 54 by an amount equal to the amount of wear on the core 46 against the elasticity of the coil spring, and the lower surface of the flange of the holding tube 56 rises. is separated from the upper surface of the bottom wall of the cylindrical body 54. When one drawing operation is completed, the CPU 30 outputs a pen-up signal. If the initial setting interval between the permanent magnet 41 and the detector 30 is x, and the decrease length of the core 46 in one drawing operation is y, then the line length of one drawing operation by the one drawing command is set so that x>y. There is. When the pen up/down control circuit 32 is driven by the pen up signal and the power supply to the solenoid 24 is cut off, the elevating body 10 is raised to a predetermined position by the elastic force of the coil spring 22. As the elevating body 10 rises, the recording pen 18
rises, and the tip of the lead 46 separates from the drawing surface.
When this recording pen 18 rises, the holding tube 56
is lowered relative to the cylindrical body 54 until the flange of the holding tube 56 is locked to the bottom wall of the cylindrical body 54 by the elastic force of the coil spring S1. As the holding tube 56 descends relative to the cylindrical body 54, the core 46, which is tightly fitted into the rubber body 57, moves downward in conjunction with the holding tube 56 due to the frictional force with the rubber body 57. This lowering of the core 46 causes the core 46 to become chuck 48,
The direction in which the core 46 is pulled is in the downward direction relative to the chuck 48.
Since the tightening force of 50 and 50 acts in the direction of loosening, the core 4
6 slides between the chucks 48 and 50 in conjunction with the holding tube 56 by the amount of wear, and is drawn out downward. In this manner, the pen-up operation causes the lead 46 to be drawn downward by the amount of wear. Next, the drawing command is CPU30
When a lead is input, a lead check operation is performed, and if a lead is present, a drawing command is executed in the manner described above. In this way, the drawing commands are executed sequentially. In this case, if no core is detected,
The preset value N=8 of the N counter 68 remains unchanged.

When coreless is detected by the core check operation in step 9, the CPU 30 inputs one pulse to the N counter 68, and the N counter 68 counts and outputs N=N-1 (step 11). The counter 68 is reset and preset to its output N-1 value. The CPU 30 determines whether N=0 or not (step 12), and if not, inputs one pulse to the x counter 64. This allows x
The counter 64 counts x=x+1 and newly sets the number x of the recording pen 18 on the stocker 38 side (step 13). The CPU 30 determines whether x=9 (step 14), and if not, the pen x designation circuit 66 designates the pen position number x of the pen stocker 30 to the CPU 30. The CPU 30 controls the print head 8 to return the recording pen 18 currently held by the print head 8 to the original empty holding section of the pen stocker 38, and also controls the print head 8 based on the input signal x from the pen x designation circuit 66. , penstocker 38
The recording pen 18 of xx is held in the printing head 8.
Note that when the x counter 64 counts 8 and adds 1, the count value returns to 1, and the pen x designation circuit 66 selects x=1, that is, the No. 1 recording pen 18 of the pen stocker 38. signal to
Output to CPU 30 (step 15).

This means that when the recording pen 18 held by the drawing head 8 has no lead, the drawing head 8 goes to pick up the recording pen with the next number in the pen stocker 38. When the drawing head 8 holds the pen 18 with xx, the pen type discriminator 70 selects the held pen 18.
The pen type comparison circuit 69 compares the type of the held pen 18 with the type of the pen held when the pen change command was analyzed (step 17), and if the pens are of the same type, Returning to step 8, a core check operation is performed. If the core check operation confirms that there is no core, or if a different type of pen is detected in step 17, the process moves to step 11. Step 11
, one pulse is supplied to the input terminal of the N counter 68, and the output N (N-1) of the N counter becomes N
If = 0 (step 12) x counter 64
1 is further added to the contents of (step 13), and the recording pen 18 held in the pen stocker 38 is
Under the control of the CPU 30, the printing head 8 returns the currently held recording pen 18 to its original position in the pen stocker 38, and then returns the number of the specified number x to the pen stocker 38. Select recording pen 18 and hold it.

In step 12, if N=0 is confirmed,
The CPU 30 sounds a buzzer (not shown) three times,
The printing head 8 returns the currently held recording pen 18 to its original position in the pen stocker 38 and stops at a predetermined position, and the CPU 30 enters a LOCAL state, that is, a state in which it receives data from the host computer but does not output it. Transition. Before the N counter 68 outputs zero, the operator checks the state of the recording pen 18 in the pen stocker 38, removes the recording pen 18 without a lead from the holding part of the pen stocker 38, and inserts a new long lead into the recording pen 18. By inserting the recording pen 18 into the pen stocker 38 and setting the recording pen 18, which has been refilled with this lead, into the recording pen holding section of the pen stocker 38,
Since the preset value of the N counter 68 is automatically preset to 8 for each drawing operation, the drawing operation (multiple consecutive drawing operations) continues without interruption. When N=0, the drawing operation of the automatic drawing machine that has entered the local state can be restored by turning on the remote button 74 or by issuing a remote command from the host computer.

〔effect〕

As described above, in the present invention, a plurality of recording pens with built-in leads are held in the pen stocker provided on the machine body, so it is possible to replenish the lead of the recording pen on the pen stocker side even during drawing. By replenishing the lead of the recording pen on the pen stocker side, there are effects such as being able to draw for a long time without stopping drawing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a flowchart, FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram, FIG. 3 is a sectional view, FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view, FIG. 5 is a side view, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view, FIG. 7 is a sectional view, FIG. 8 is a sectional view, and FIG. 9 is a plan view. 2... Airframe, 4... Table, 6... Y rail, 8... Drawing head, 10... Lifting body, 12...
...Pen holding frame, 14...Pen holding arm, 16...
... Pen holder, 18 ... Recording pen, 20 ... Guide shaft, 22 ... Coil spring, 24 ... Solenoid, 30 ... CPU, 33 ... Pen holding detector,
34, 36... Motor, 38... Pen stocker, 40... Holder tube, 44... Head block, 42... Guide tube, 46... Lead, 48, 50...
...Lead chuck, 56...Lead holding tube, 70...Pen type discriminator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A pen stocker installed on the machine body holds a plurality of recording pens with built-in consumable writing leads, and the recording pens are mutually exchanged between the pen stocker and the drawing head, and is controlled by a computer. In an automatic drawing machine, the number N of recording pens attached to a pen stocker is set, the number N can be updated, and a drawing head holding a recording pen of a desired rank in the pen stocker is set by a pen change command. Before the computer shifts to drawing operation using a drawing command, it checks whether there is a lead in the recording pen held by the drawing head, and if the amount of lead remaining in the recording pen is less than a specified amount, the computer checks whether there is any lead. subtract 1 from the number N, return the drawing head to the pen stocker, hold the next recording pen in the pen stocker, and check the presence or absence of a lead in the memory pen;
If there is a lead, move to the drawing operation based on the drawing command, and when it is confirmed that there is no lead, subtract 1 from the number N above, repeat the above operation until the number N becomes zero, and then calculate the number N. When becomes zero,
A recording pen exchange control method, characterized in that, in order to replenish the lead of the recording pen on the pen stocker side, a plotting head is stopped at a predetermined position to interrupt the plotting operation.