JPH1188711A - Plotter equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a plotter device capable of performing easy-to-see drawing even when drawing on a drawing target medium having a pattern. SOLUTION: CCD cameras 71 and 72 for inputting image data such as color and brightness of a drawing surface on paper,
An image data area 32 for storing image data input by the D cameras 71 and 72, and setting a drawing color of a line drawing to be drawn based on the image data stored in the image data area 32; The ink ejected from the ink head 5 is controlled in accordance with the drawn drawing color.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a plotter device capable of drawing in a plurality of drawing colors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, plotter devices capable of drawing in a plurality of drawing colors have been developed, and these plotter devices are often used for multi-color drawing, and include plotting data including multi-color data. It has a function of performing drawing while automatically changing a drawing color in accordance with data, and is configured so that an operator can manually change to a desired drawing color.

[0003]

However, when there is a pattern consisting of a plurality of colors on the paper itself, which is the drawing medium, it is difficult to manually change the drawing color for each pattern portion, and it is easy to see. When attempting to draw with a drawing color, one has to select one optimum drawing color and draw the whole with that color. For this reason, even if the entire drawing surface is drawn with the optimum drawing color, it is difficult to distinguish the paper color and the drawing color in part, and the drawing result may not be clearly seen. Was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a plotter device capable of performing easy-to-view drawing even when drawing on a drawing target medium having a pattern. Aim.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, a plotter apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: a drawing unit capable of drawing a line image in a plurality of drawing colors; A drive unit for relatively moving the medium; and a drawing data storage unit for storing drawing data to be drawn, wherein the drawing unit and the driving unit are controlled in accordance with the drawing data stored in the drawing data storage unit. Image data input means for inputting image data such as color and brightness of a drawing surface on a drawing medium, and an image data input means for the image data input means Image data storage means for storing the image data input by the CPU, drawing color setting means for setting a drawing color of a line drawing to be drawn based on the image data stored in the image data storage means, In accordance with the drawing color set by the drawing color setting means, and a drawing color control means for controlling the drawing color of the drawing means.

Therefore, the image data input means inputs image data such as the color and brightness of the drawing surface on the drawing medium, and the image data storage means stores the image data input by the image data input means. The drawing color setting means sets the drawing color of the line image to be drawn based on the image data stored in the image data storage means, and the drawing color control means sets the drawing color set by the drawing color setting means. Controls the drawing color of the drawing means.

Therefore, even when there is a pattern on the drawing surface,
Since the drawing is performed with the drawing color that is easier to see, it is possible to obtain a drawing result that is easier to see on the entire drawing surface.

Further, the plotter device according to claim 2 is
The image data input means is configured to input image data within a predetermined range centered on a drawing position by the drawing means.

Therefore, the image data input means inputs image data within a predetermined range centered on the drawing position by the drawing means.

Therefore, since the image data input means inputs image data in a minimum necessary range, the amount of image data processed by the drawing color setting means can be small, and high-speed processing can be performed.

Further, the plotter device according to claim 3 is
The image data input means is constituted by a pair of CCD cameras arranged with the drawing means interposed therebetween.

Therefore, the pair of CCD cameras inputs image data within a predetermined range centered on the drawing position by the drawing means.

Therefore, image data such as the color and brightness of the surface to be drawn centering on the drawing position can be efficiently input with a simple configuration.

Further, the plotter device according to claim 4 is
The drawing color setting unit is white when the brightness of each pixel stored by the image data storage unit is less than a predetermined brightness, and when the brightness of each pixel is equal to or higher than the predetermined brightness, The configuration is such that a color having the most different hue from the color of the pixel is set as a drawing color.

Accordingly, the drawing color setting means outputs white when the brightness of each pixel stored by the image data storage means is less than a predetermined brightness, and sets the brightness of each pixel to the predetermined brightness. In the above case, the color having the hue most distant from the color of the pixel is set as the drawing color.

Therefore, even when there is a pattern on the drawing surface,
Since the drawing is performed with the drawing color that is easier to see, it is possible to obtain a drawing result that is easier to see on the entire drawing surface.

Further, the plotter device according to claim 5 is
The drawing color setting unit is configured to extract a pixel row on a drawing line from image data input by the image data input unit, and set a drawing color for each of the extracted pixels.

Therefore, the drawing color setting means extracts a pixel row on a drawing line from the image data input by the image data input means, and sets a drawing color for each extracted pixel.

Therefore, the optimum drawing color can be set for each pixel on the drawing line.

The plotter device according to claim 6 is
The drawing color setting means is configured to connect successive pixel rows for each of the same drawing colors.

Therefore, the drawing color setting means connects the continuous pixel rows for the same drawing color.

Accordingly, since the pixel rows are connected for each color, the drawing process can be performed at high speed.

[0023]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plotter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

First, the overall configuration of the plotter according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plotter device includes an ink head 5, an XY driving device 6, and a CCD (charge coupled device) camera 7.

Incidentally, the ink head 5 constitutes the drawing means of the present invention, the XY drive device 6 constitutes the drive means, and the CCD camera 7 constitutes the image data input means.

The ink head 5 is a portion for ejecting ink for drawing, and comprises an air nozzle 51, an electromagnetic valve 52, and an ink nozzle 53 as shown in FIG. The air nozzle 51 is configured so that high-pressure air can be jetted or stopped by opening and closing the electromagnetic valve 52. In the ink nozzle 53,
The pigment-based ink is supplied, and the tip of the ink nozzle 53 is located inside the tip of the air nozzle 51.
When high-pressure air is ejected from the air nozzle 51, ink is ejected from the ink nozzle 53 by the principle of atomization. The ink head 5 is provided with four sets of nozzles having the above-described configuration, and is configured to be able to discharge four pigment-based inks of white, yellow, red, and blue. The ink and air of each color are supplied by a pipe (not shown).

The XY driving device 6 includes the ink heads 5 and C
This is a device for moving the CD cameras 71 and 72 on the XY plane, and includes an arm 61, a plotter table 63, a rail 64, and a rail 65 as shown in FIG. The arm 61 has the ink head 5 mounted thereon, and an X-axis drive motor (not shown) drives the ink head 5 to the arm 61.
Drive in the X-axis direction. A rail 64 and a rail 65 installed at both ends of the plotter table 63 mount both ends of the arm 61, respectively.
The arm 61 is driven on the rails 64 and 65 in the Y-axis direction. With this configuration, the ink head 5 can be freely moved on the surface of the plotter table 63.

The CCD camera 7 is a device for inputting image data of the drawing surface. As shown in FIG. 3, the CCD cameras 71 and C
It comprises a CD camera 72. CCD camera 71
The CCD camera 72 is configured to photograph the left and right halves of the photographing range centered on the printing point 80 directly below the ink head 5 on the plotter table, that is, the photographing range 81 and the photographing range 82, respectively. . And CCD
By combining the output image of the camera 71 and the output image of the CCD camera 72, the output image of the CCD camera 7 is generated. With such a configuration, it is possible to obtain image data of a shooting range centered directly below the ink head 5.

Next, the electrical configuration of the plotter according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the plotter device has a CP
It comprises a U1, a ROM 2, a RAM 3, a serial communication port 4, an ink head 5, an XY drive 6, and a CCD camera 7.

The CPU 1 controls the operation of the plotter device.

The ROM 2 is an area for storing programs, data, and the like for controlling the operation of the plotter device.
The CPU 1 sequentially reads out and executes programs stored in the ROM 2.

The RAM 3 is an area for temporarily storing various data necessary for processing a program, and includes a drawing data area 31 and an image data area 32. The drawing data area 31 constitutes the drawing data storage means of the present invention, and the image data area 32 constitutes the image data storage means.

The serial communication port 4 is a part for inputting drawing data from the outside to the plotter device.

Ink head 5, XY driving device 6, and C
The CD cameras 7 are each connected to the CPU 1,
It operates based on a command from CPU1.

Next, the flow of the entire processing in the plotter device of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in the figure.

First, in the drawing data input processing, drawing data is input from the serial communication port 4 and the RAM 3
(Step 201; hereinafter, step is abbreviated as S. The same applies to other steps).

Next, it is determined whether there is unprocessed drawing data (S202), and if there is no unprocessed data (S202:
NO), end all processing.

On the other hand, if there is unprocessed drawing data (S2
02: YES), an image data input process is performed (S20).
3).

In the image data input processing (S203), C
The image data on the paper in the area centered directly below the ink head 5 is input by the CD camera 7 and stored in the image data area 32 of the RAM 3.

Next, an image data analysis process is performed (S20).
4). In this process, the drawing color of the drawing data to be drawn in the range where the image data is input in S203 is determined by analyzing the color, brightness, and the like of the image data.

More specifically, first, a pixel row on a line to be drawn (planned drawing line) is extracted from the pixels constituting the image data, and then a drawing color is drawn for each pixel of the extracted pixel row. Is set, and the drawing data is divided into several segments by linking successive pixel rows for each drawing color.

The processing in S204 functions as the drawing color setting means of the present invention.

Next, ink for drawing a segment is selected in accordance with the result of the analysis processing in S204 (S20).
5) Then, drawing is performed using the ink (S206).
The processing in S205 functions as the drawing color control unit of the present invention.

Then, it is determined whether or not all the segments processed in S204 have been drawn (S207).
If all segments have been drawn (S207: Y
ES), the process returns to S202, and if there is a segment that has not been drawn (S207: NO), the process returns to S205, and ink selection and drawing are repeated (S205, S206).

Here, the processing of setting the drawing color for each pixel and dividing the image into segments in S204 will be described in detail.

Drawing data area 31 and image data area 3
2 uses an HSV unit system as a color data expression format. H represents hue, S represents saturation, and V represents value (corresponding to brightness).

First, the drawing color for each pixel is selected and set from four colors of white, yellow, red and blue prepared for the ink. For the selection of the drawing color, white is selected as the drawing color if the value of the pixel color is equal to or more than a certain threshold value b, while yellow, red, Of the blue colors, the color having the largest hue difference from the pixel color (ie, the color having the largest difference in hue value) is selected as the drawing color.

Next, consecutive pixels are connected. Hereinafter, a continuous pixel in which the same drawing color is selected is referred to as a segment, and the number of pixels constituting the segment is referred to as a segment length.

In the first method of the linking process, when m segments (segments Ai to Aj) having a length of n or less are continuous, the drawing color most contained in the segments Ai to Aj is set as the drawing color, and the segment Ai To Aj.

On the other hand, in the second method of the linking process, the segment Ai having the length n or less is set to the segment A of the same drawing color.
When adjacent to j, the segments Ai and Aj are connected to form one segment. If the segment Ai whose length is n or less is not adjacent to the segment of the same drawing color, the segment Ai and the segment Aj are connected by the drawing color of the longer segment Aj of the segments before and after the segment Ai. By performing the concatenation process in the first method and then performing the concatenation process in the second method, all segments have a length greater than n.

As described above, according to the plotter apparatus of the present embodiment, the processing of step S204 analyzes the image data of the surface to be drawn inputted by the CCD camera 7, and the drawing color is selected according to the result. Therefore, even when there is a pattern on the surface to be drawn, the drawing color is optimally controlled at the portion of the pattern to be drawn, and a clear drawing result can be obtained as a whole.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described in detail above, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, a CCD camera is used as the image data input means, but it is also possible to use other photographing means.

In the above-described embodiment, the paper as the drawing medium is fixed, and the ink head 5 is moved to the XY driving device 6.
However, the ink head 5 may be fixed and the paper may be movable.

[0057]

As is apparent from the above description,
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plotter device, comprising: image data input means for inputting image data such as color and brightness of a drawing surface on a drawing target medium; and image data input by the image data input means. Image data storage means for storing, drawing color setting means for setting a drawing color of a line drawing to be drawn based on the image data stored in the image data storage means, and a drawing color set by the drawing color setting means And the drawing color control means for controlling the drawing color of the drawing means, so that even when there is a pattern on the drawing surface, the drawing is performed with a more visible drawing color. Can be obtained.

Further, according to the plotter device of the present invention,
Since the image data input means is configured to input image data within a predetermined range centered on a drawing position by the drawing means, the image data input means converts image data of a minimum necessary range. The amount of image data to be input and processed by the drawing color setting means can be small, and high-speed processing can be performed.

Further, the plotter device according to claim 3 is
Since the image data input means is constituted by a pair of CCD cameras arranged with the drawing means interposed therebetween,
With a simple configuration, it is possible to efficiently input image data such as the color and brightness of the surface to be drawn centering on the drawing position.

Further, the plotter device according to claim 4 is
The drawing color setting unit is white when the brightness of each pixel stored by the image data storage unit is less than a predetermined brightness, and when the brightness of each pixel is equal to or higher than the predetermined brightness, Since it is configured so that the color with the most hue from the color of the pixel is set as the drawing color,
Even when there is a pattern on the drawing surface, drawing is performed in a drawing color that is easier to see, so that a drawing result that is easier to see on the entire drawing surface can be obtained.

Further, the plotter device according to claim 5 is
Since the drawing color setting unit is configured to extract a pixel row on a drawing line from the image data input by the image data input unit and set a drawing color for each of the extracted pixels, An optimum drawing color can be set for each pixel on the drawing line.

Further, the plotter device according to claim 6 is
Since the drawing color setting means is configured to connect the continuous pixel rows for each of the same drawing colors, the pixel rows are connected for each of the same colors, so that the drawing processing can be performed at high speed. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plotter device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an ink head.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a shooting range of a CCD camera.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the plotter device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing of the entire plotter device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 RAM 5 Ink head 6 XY drive device 7 CCD camera 31 Drawing data area 32 Image data area 72 CCD camera 73 CCD camera 81 Shooting range 82 Shooting range

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Drawing means capable of drawing a line image in a plurality of drawing colors, driving means for relatively moving the drawing means and a medium to be drawn, and drawing data storage means for storing drawing data to be drawn. A plotter device configured to control the drawing unit and the driving unit in accordance with the drawing data stored in the drawing data storage unit to perform drawing on the drawing target medium. Image data input means for inputting image data such as color and brightness, image data storage means for storing image data input by the image data input means, and image data stored in the image data storage means. A drawing color setting means for setting a drawing color of a line drawing to be drawn; and a drawing color set by the drawing color setting means.
A plotting color control means for controlling a drawing color of the drawing means. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image data input means is configured to input image data within a predetermined range centered on a drawing position by said drawing means.
A plotter device according to claim 1. 3. The plotter device according to claim 2, wherein said image data input means comprises a pair of CCD cameras arranged with said drawing means interposed therebetween. 4. The rendering color setting means outputs white when the brightness of each pixel stored by the image data storage means is less than a predetermined brightness, and sets the brightness of each pixel to the predetermined brightness. 4. The plotter device according to claim 1, wherein, in the above case, a color having the most different hue from the color of the pixel is set as a drawing color. 5. 5. The drawing color setting unit is configured to extract a pixel row on a drawing line from image data input by the image data input unit, and set a drawing color for each of the extracted pixels. The plotter device according to claim 1, wherein the plotting is performed. 6. The plotter device according to claim 5, wherein said drawing color setting means is configured to connect successive pixel rows for each of the same drawing colors.