JPH07121497B2 - Engraving method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an engraving method. More specifically, the present invention relates to an engraving method capable of engraving a character having a non-uniform line width such as a character drawn with a brush with a very simple and short time as if engraved with a brush. The method of the present invention can be applied to similar figures or symbols as well as characters with non-uniform line width.

[Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventionally, a character, a figure or a symbol (hereinafter, these are represented by "characters" in the present specification) is made of a synthetic resin,
Sculpture is performed on a plate surface made of wood, stone, metal, etc. using a computer and a modeling machine, and the obtained one is widely used in daily life as a name plate, nameplate, etc.

However, engraving that has been performed conventionally is two-dimensional control, and since the depth control is constant, only characters with a constant line width such as a round Gotic body can be engraved. FIG. 6 shows an example of a character having a constant line width. Here, the depth is a direction perpendicular to the surface on which the character is engraved, and its control is only two-position control, that is, whether or not it is in the cutting state. Therefore, the typeface of the obtained characters was monotonous and lacked in shading.

On the other hand, it has been attempted to engrave a typeface whose line width changes, but in this method, engraving is performed by scanning a cutter as shown in FIG. This method not only takes a very long time for engraving, but also makes the edges of the characters wavy as shown in FIG. For this reason, it was hardly practical.

And when it was necessary to engrave a character with a non-uniform line width, it was necessary to rely on a conventional manual engraving machine (so-called training machine), but this method required skill. Furthermore, in this case, it was always necessary to search for sesame and mascots, which took time to produce.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an engraving method in which the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional techniques are eliminated.
That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an engraving method that can easily obtain a character whose line width is not constant in a short time.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention uses a computer and a modeling machine of three-axis control to control the line width by adjusting the depth of the cutter, and appropriately adjust the characters whose line width is not constant. It is a method of engraving on the member.

The engraving method of the present invention is a method for engraving a character, figure or symbol having a non-uniform line width on an appropriate member, and a plurality of line segments from the fulcrum to the end point on each line segment forming the character, figure or symbol. Set the number of input points, draw a circle that touches the line that includes the input point and that constitutes the line width for each of the input points, and use the plane coordinates of the points where each circle touches the line that constitutes the line width, Calculate the position of the midpoint of the contact point and the distance between both contact points, and calculate the coordinates in the depth direction of the cutter vertex at the midpoint from the distance between both contact points and the tip shape of the cutter to be used. It is characterized by engraving with a three-axis control modeling machine based on dimensional information.

[Example] The engraving method of the present invention controls the line width of a character by controlling the depth of the cutter of the modeling machine.

The tip of the cutter of the modeling machine has a conical shape as shown in Fig. 1 when rotating, and a small circle is drawn on the surface of an appropriate member when cutting shallowly with this cutter, and a large circle when cutting deeply. Can be drawn (see Fig. 2). When the vertex of this cutter is specified by three-dimensional coordinates and the coordinates are approximated by a straight line or a curve, the result is as shown in FIG.
(The figure shows the case of linear approximation), and by continuing this, it is possible to engrave characters of varying line width on the surface of the member. The upper half of FIG. 2 represents the movement of the cutter, and the lower half represents the shape engraved on the surface of an appropriate member.

By controlling the depth in this way, the line width can be controlled,
Further, since the depth and the line width have a direct proportional relationship, the coordinate of the depth can be calculated by measuring the line width on the contrary. For example, when a cutter having a blade edge angle (angle indicated by (α) in FIG. 1) of 53.3 degrees is used, the depth and the line width correspond to approximately 1: 1.

Next, the above principle will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows the character "Large" in which the line width is not constant. In Fig. 3, the line (l ₁ ) that constitutes the line width and is opposite to each other,
The intersection of (l ₂ ) and the circle (0) inscribed in it is A
Assuming that (X ₁ , Y ₁ ) and B (X ₂ , Y ₂ ), the coordinates C (X ₃ , Y ₃ , Z ₃ ) of the corresponding vertex of the bracket are given by the following equation.

X, Y: Plane Z: Depth As is clear from the equation (I), three-dimensional information on the left side can be obtained by information processing on the plane on the right side. Information processing of the plane on the right side can be performed by a coordinate input device or image processing.

Next, a method of engraving a character having a non-uniform line width based on the above-mentioned basic principle will be described by taking the character "large" of the typeface shown in FIG. 4 as an example.

First, the character "Large" is captured on the CRT display by image processing. Next, input engraving start information with a coordinate input device such as a mouse, digitizer, or tablet. To engrave in the order of strokes, use the coordinate input device (P ₁ ), (P ₂ )
By designating (P ₃ ), (P ₄ ) ... In this order, a circle that touches the opposing lines that compose the line width including each point can be drawn. In this case, if the line segment is part of a straight line whose line width does not change, it is not necessary to specify a point for the middle part of the line, but the number of points specified for a part with a large change in line width. Increasing the number allows you to engrave a gentle line segment. The contact points of the circle containing (P ₁ ) and the opposing lines that make up the line width are (A ₁ ), (B ₁ ), and similarly the contact points corresponding to (P ₂ ) are (A ₂ ), Then, (B ₂ ), three-dimensional modeling data can be obtained from the above equation (I). Then, when (Pn) is reached, the engraving end information is input. If the engraving start information and end information are not entered here, the unnecessary parts will be engraved as shown in FIG. 5 by linear approximation (curve approximation) with the coordinates before and after, so these inputs are necessary. Is.

After that, by controlling a three-axis control modeling machine with the above data (three-dimensional information) with a computer, it is possible to engrave characters with a non-uniform line width such as a cursive typeface and a cursive typeface.

In addition, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to engrave the characters of the same type of cursive typeface or cursive type on an appropriate member based on the once obtained three-dimensional information. The size of characters can be easily changed by control. Further, the thickness of the wire can be adjusted as appropriate by exchanging the cutter with one having a different blade edge angle. Furthermore, if you enter the three-dimensional information for all the characters you need and give the code number to each character,
A desired character can be engraved based on the code number.

[Effects of the Invention] The present invention can be applied to all members that can be approximately automatically modeled, including plates made of synthetic resin, wood, stone, metal, and the like. Nameplate,
It is possible to provide data that can automatically model characters with non-uniform line widths on nameplates, key chains, tiles, etc. It is possible to engrave easily and in a short time using a computer and a modeling machine with three-axis control.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing the tip shape of a cutter used in the method of the present invention during rotation, FIGS. 2 to 3 are explanatory views showing the principle of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a character engraved by the method of the present invention. 5 is an explanatory view showing an example of engraving an unnecessary portion, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an example of a character having a constant line width engraved by a conventional method, and FIG. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional method for engraving a character whose line width is not constant.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for engraving a character, figure or symbol having a non-uniform line width on an appropriate member, comprising a plurality of line segments on each line segment forming the character, figure or symbol from the start point to the end point. Set an input point, draw a circle that is tangent to the line that includes the input point and that constitutes the line width for each of the input points, and use the plane coordinates of the points where each circle is in contact with the line that constitutes the line width, The position of the midpoint and the distance between both contacts are calculated, and the coordinates in the depth direction of the cutter vertex at the midpoint are calculated from the distance between both contacts and the tip shape of the cutter used, and the three-dimensional information of the obtained cutter vertex is calculated. An engraving method characterized by engraving with a 3-axis control modeling machine based on the above.