JP2005246562A - Cutting plotter and driving control device of cutting plotter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting plotter capable of setting optimum various kinds of operation conditions, only if selecting the kind of a sheet-like medium to be cut. <P>SOLUTION: This cutting plotter is provided with a storage means for storing and holding each of the various kinds of setting conditions according to the kind of the medium to be cut. The setting condition selected by an operator or according to the kind of the medium to be cut detected by the cutting plotter is read from the storage means. Based on the read setting condition, a cutting is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting plotter that cuts a sheet-like medium such as a cutting film into a desired shape.

  As a conventional cutting plotter of this type that cuts a sheet-like medium into a predetermined shape, both ends of the sheet-like medium are sandwiched between a driving roller and a driven roller (pinch roller), and the driving roller is rotated forward and backward. To move the sheet medium in the first direction (X-axis direction) and to be movable in a second direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to the first direction, and to the carriage. By moving the cutting pen that presses and separates against the sheet-like medium, the cutting pen is moved in a two-dimensional direction with respect to the sheet-like medium and selectively pressed and separated to cut into a desired shape. A sheet-like medium is placed on a medium-driven cutting plotter or a flat table, and can be moved in the first direction relative to the placement table. A Y-bar provided on the carriage, a carriage slidable on the Y-bar so as to be movable in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and a pressure-contact / separation between the carriage and the sheet-like medium on the mounting table. A so-called flat bed type in which the Y-bar and carriage are controlled to move, and the cutting pen is selectively pressed against and separated from the sheet-like medium to cut it into a desired shape. A cutting plotter is known.

This cutting plotter uses a sheet-like medium that has been printed (recorded) in advance with graphics, designs, etc., and cuts this into a developed shape of a box, container, etc., or creates a box, container, or It is also used for making paper products such as patterns such as clothes, decorative stencils or mask patterns, greeting cards such as New Year's cards, and paper crafts.
JP 2002-346882 A

When cutting a sheet-like medium with this cutting plotter, various operating conditions are prepared in order to perform high-quality cutting. For example, the drawing speed (that is, the moving speed of the cutting pen), the acceleration (the moving acceleration of the cutting pen), the writing pressure (the pressing force of the cutting pen against the sheet medium) and the offset correction amount (the offset amount at the start of cutting) and the pen A seed (cutting amount or cutting edge shape of the cutting pen) or the like is prepared as an operation condition. Of these, the drawing speed and acceleration are particularly related to the fineness of the cut figure to be created. When creating a fine cut figure, set these values small to shorten the overall cutting work time. If you want to do this, it is desirable to set these values large. The writing pressure is particularly related to the thickness or firmness of the sheet-like medium to be cut. For thick or hard media, it is desirable to set the writing pressure large, and the sheet-like medium to be cut. By setting an appropriate writing pressure according to the thickness or hardness of the sheet, it is possible to perform cutting with good quality. Further, the offset correction amount and the pen type (cutting amount of the cutting pen) are particularly related to the thickness of the cutting film to be cut. Thus, these operating conditions include various cutting films and various types of cutting films. Many setting values are prepared according to the sheet-like medium to be used. Conventionally, in many of these cutting conditions, set values determined by the operator as appropriate are set in advance before the cutting operation, and cutting is performed in a predetermined pattern in an unnecessary area of the sheet-like medium before performing the cutting operation. The cutting operation is performed, the cutting result is confirmed, each operation condition is set again, this is repeated, and a setting value for obtaining the best cutting result is determined, and then the cutting operation is performed.
Therefore, in order to quickly find out the best operating conditions, it is necessary to repeat the cutting-out operation based on the experience of the operator, or for those who are unfamiliar with the operation, setting these various operating conditions. Was very annoying. In addition, when changing the cutting target to another type of sheet material, the operation condition setting operation must be performed again, which is complicated.
The present invention has been made to solve these problems.

  In the cutting plotter of the present invention, a storage means for individually storing and holding various setting conditions according to the type of the medium to be cut is provided, and the setting conditions according to the type of the medium to be cut are read from the storage means, The main feature is that the cutting is performed based on the read setting condition.

  In the cutting plotter of the present invention, since various setting conditions corresponding to the type of the medium to be cut are individually stored and held in the storage unit, the setting conditions corresponding to the medium type to be cut are read from the storage unit. Since cutting is performed based on this, it is not necessary for the operator to perform complicated setting condition selection work.

  The storage means individually stores and holds cutting operation condition setting values such as drawing speed, acceleration, writing pressure, and offset correction amount according to the type of the medium to be cut. The operator selects and sets a medium to be cut with respect to the cutting plotter before the cutting operation. At this time, the cutting plotter is configured to read out corresponding setting conditions from the storage unit according to the type of the selected medium to be cut, and to perform a cutting operation based on the setting conditions. Further, the setting condition includes cutting means information, and the cutting means information is displayed on the display means among the setting conditions read from the storage means.

The cutting plotter of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a cutting medium drive type cutting plotter which is a cutting plotter of the present invention, in which 1 is a cutting plotter body, 2 is a driving roller, 3 is a pinch roller, 4 is a pen block, 5 Is a cutting pen, and 6 is a medium to be cut.
In the cutting medium driving type cutting plotter of the present invention, the driving roller 2 is supported by the main body 1 so as to be driven to rotate by transmitting a rotational driving force in a forward / reverse direction of a driving motor (not shown), and is also pinched. The roller 3 is pressed against the drive roller 2 through the medium 6 to be cut, and is driven to rotate following the forward / reverse rotation of the drive roller 2. A sheet-like medium 6 that is a medium to be cut is provided such that both ends thereof are sandwiched between the driving roller 2 and the pinch roller 3 and driven in the X-axis direction in the figure by the rotational driving of the driving roller 2. The pen block 4 is provided on the plotter main body 1 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction in the figure by a moving mechanism (not shown). The pen block 4 holds a cutting pen 5 as a cutting means, and the held cutting pen 5 is used as an actuator (see FIG. (Not shown) is provided so as to be pressed and separated from the sheet-like medium 6 by being lowered and raised.
The control means drives and controls the drive roller 2 based on the cut data of the shape to be cut to move the sheet medium 6 in the X-axis direction (first direction) in the figure, and also moves the pen block 4 to the Y-axis. The cutting pen 5 is moved in the two-dimensional direction relative to the sheet medium 6 by moving in the direction (second direction), and the cutting pen 5 is selectively pressed and separated from the sheet medium 6. Thus, it is configured to cut it in a desired shape.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the medium-driven cutting plotter of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 7 is a drive control unit for controlling the driving of the cutting plotter, and 8 is a variety of cutting operations for the cutting plotter. It is a computer as a host device that performs a request (command). In this embodiment, a computer is exemplified as the host device. However, any device such as a dedicated controller provided in the workstation or the cutting plotter body can be used as long as it transmits various commands for cutting operation to the cutting plotter. I do not care. The drive control unit 7 includes an X-axis drive control unit 72 that controls a drive motor that drives the sheet-like medium 6 that is a medium to be cut in the X-axis direction by rotating the drive roller 2 in the forward and reverse directions, and the pen block 4. Y-axis drive control means 73 that controls movement in the Y-axis direction, Z-axis drive control means 74 that drives and controls an actuator that presses and separates the cutting pen 5 from the sheet-like medium 6, and control that performs various controls of these drive control means The apparatus 71 is comprised.

  When the sheet material is cut into a desired shape by the medium-driven cutting plotter, first, both end portions of the sheet-like medium 6 are sandwiched between the driving roller 2 and the pinch roller 3, and then cut data transmitted from the host device 8. Based on the above, the control unit moves the pen block 4 holding the cutting pen 5 in the Y-axis direction while pressing or separating the cutting pen 5 from the paper sheet material 7 by an actuator of the pen block 4 (not shown). At the same time, the drive roller 2 is rotationally driven to move the sheet medium 6 in the X-axis direction. As a result, the cutting pen 5 is moved in a two-dimensional direction relative to the sheet-like medium 6 based on the cut data, whereby the sheet-like medium 6 is cut.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a computer as a host device that transmits commands such as cutting operations to the cutting plotter. In the figure, reference numeral 80 denotes a control unit that performs various controls, 81 denotes display means such as a monitor, and 82 denotes various data or commands. An input means including a mouse, a keyboard and the like for inputting and instructing, and a storage means 83 for storing and holding various setting conditions.
The storage means 83 in the cutting plotter of the present invention stores the pen speed, acceleration, writing pressure, offset correction amount, cutting operation mode, and pen type as optimum cutting means information for cutting for each type of medium to be cut. Such operating conditions are individually stored and held. These operating conditions are: “Pen speed” is the moving speed of the cutting pen, “Acceleration” is the moving acceleration of the cutting pen, “Pen pressure” is the pressing force of the cutting pen against the sheet medium, and “Offset correction amount” is at the start of cutting Specifically, the speed and acceleration are parameters for determining coordinate correction values such as the number of drive timing pulses per unit time transmitted from the X and Y axis drive control means 72 and 73 to the respective drive motors, brush strokes, and the like. The pressure is a control command such as a current value given to the actuator of the pen block 4 transmitted to the Z-axis drive control means 74, and the offset correction amount is a correction value given to the coordinates of the cutting start point in the cut data. . The pen speed and acceleration are particularly related to the fineness of the cut figure to be created. When creating a fine cut figure, it is desirable to reduce these values, and the pen pressure should be cut. This is particularly related to the type of medium, and it is desirable to set this large for a medium having a large thickness or rigidity. Further, the “cutting operation mode” indicates cutting data as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-220594 when, for example, the medium to be cut is an elastic material or a material having a thickness or rigidity. Is a cutting operation program corresponding to the type of medium, such as cutting by moving the cutting means a plurality of times between the start point and the end point of the unit line segment, and is configured by a storage table as a control command in the same manner as the above operating conditions. Is stored and held in the storage means 83. In addition, the “pen type” information is a type of cutting pen having an optimum blade amount for each medium to be cut, and an optimum cutting pen type is recorded according to the type of medium as an operation condition. Stored and held in means 83.
These cutting condition set values are stored and held in the storage means 83 for each type of medium to be cut, as shown in the figure. In the cutting plotter of the present invention, the combination of these various setting conditions is the medium. The optimum value of each parameter is stored in advance according to the type, and the optimum value is set only by the operation of selecting the type of medium to be cut by the operator.

In this cutting condition setting operation, the control unit 80 causes the display unit 81 to display a “cutting medium selection window” 811 for setting various cutting operation conditions. The cutting medium selection window 811 includes a pen type information among a medium type selection / display window 812 for displaying a list of medium types stored in advance in the storage unit 83 and setting means corresponding to the selected medium type. The pen type display window 813 is displayed.
The operator operates the input means 82 while confirming the display of the cut medium selection window 812, and selects the medium type to be cut from the medium type selection / display window 812. When the medium to be cut is selected here, the control unit 80 reads out the cutting condition for the selected medium from the data in the storage unit 83, and further displays the cutting condition based on the pen type information among the read cutting conditions. The (optimum) type of the cutting pen 5 corresponding to the selected medium is displayed in the pen type display window 813 of the means 81. The operator confirms the display of the pen type display window 813, selects the optimum cutting pen 5 according to the sheet medium 6, attaches it to the pen block 4, and when this is completed, the cutting medium selection window 811. The “OK” button is operated or the execution key is pressed from the keyboard to complete the cutting condition setting operation. When the setting of the cutting conditions is completed, the control unit 80 moves the pen block 4 holding the cutting pen 5 in a two-dimensional direction relative to the sheet-like medium 6 based on the set parameters and cut data. This is cut by moving (X-axis and Y-axis driving devices) and simultaneously pressing and separating the cutting pen 5 supported on the pen block 4 from the sheet-like medium 6 (Z-axis driving device).

  As described above, in the cutting plotter of the present invention, the operator can easily and accurately set various setting conditions optimum for the medium to be cut only by selecting the type of the medium to be cut.

In the above-described embodiment, various conditions are set by selecting the type of the medium 6 to be cut by the operator. However, for example, a barcode is provided on the surface of the sheet-like medium 6 as shown in FIG. An index 61 indicating the type of the medium is given in advance, and the index 61 is read by the sensor unit 9 provided in the pen block 4 shown in FIG. 2, thereby detecting the type of the medium 6 to be cut. A setting value corresponding to the detected medium type may be read from the storage unit 83 and set.
In this embodiment, the sheet type medium 6 is the upper body set on the cutting plotter body 1, and the medium type detection operation is performed before the cutting operation. In the medium type detection operation, the drive control device 81 controls the X and Y axis drive control units 82 and 83 to pass the pen block 4 over the index 61 provided on the sheet-like medium 6. At this time, the sensor unit 9 is simultaneously operated to read the index 61, and the control unit 80 of the host device 8 detects the type of the set medium 6 from the output of the sensor unit 9, and the type of the detected medium Is read from the storage table 83, and the cutting condition is set.
According to this embodiment, the operation for setting the medium type by the operator is not required, and various operation conditions can be set more easily.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the cutting plotter of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the cutting plotter of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cutting plotter main body 2 Drive roller 3 Pinch roller 4 Pen block 5 Cutting pen 6 Cutting medium 7 Drive control part 8 Host apparatus 9 Sensor part

Claims (4)

In a cutting plotter that moves the cutting means in a two-dimensional direction relative to the medium to be cut based on the cut data, and selectively presses and separates the cutting means to cut into a desired shape.
Having storage means for individually storing and holding various setting conditions according to the type of the cut medium;
A setting condition corresponding to the type of the medium to be cut is read from the storage unit, and the cutting unit is moved in a two-dimensional direction relative to the medium to be cut based on the read setting condition. In addition, a cutting plotter characterized in that the medium to be cut is cut into a desired shape by selectively pressing and separating them.   The cutting plotter according to claim 1, wherein the type of the medium to be cut is selected by an operator.   2. The cutting plotter according to claim 1, wherein the type of the medium to be cut is detected by reading an index provided on the medium to be cut. A drive control device for a cutting plotter according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The various setting conditions include cutting means information,
A cutting plotter drive control device, wherein the cutting means information is displayed by the display means among the set conditions according to the type of the medium to be cut read from the storage means.

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