JP5915781B2 - Drawing control method, laser irradiation apparatus, drawing control program, and recording medium recording the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a drawing control method, a laser irradiation apparatus, a drawing control program, and a recording medium recording the same.

  Until now, image formation and image erasure on a thermoreversible recording medium (medium) have been performed by a contact method in which a heating source is brought into contact with the medium to heat the medium. As a heat source, a thermal head is usually used for image formation, and a heat roller, a ceramic heater, or the like is used for image erasure.

  In such a contact-type recording method, when the thermoreversible recording medium is a flexible material such as a film or paper, uniform image formation and image formation can be achieved by pressing the medium uniformly against a heating source with a platen or the like. There is an advantage that the image forming apparatus and the image erasing apparatus can be manufactured at low cost by performing the erasing and diverting the components of the conventional thermal paper printer.

  However, because it is a contact-type recording method, if printing and erasing are repeated, the surface of the medium is scraped to create irregularities, and parts that do not come into contact with a heating source such as a thermal head or hot stamp come out and are not heated uniformly. There is a problem that density reduction and erasure failure occur.

  Therefore, for example, a method using a laser has been proposed as a method for uniformly forming and erasing images without contact. This method uses a thermoreversible recording medium in a transport container used in a physical distribution line and performs non-contact recording, writing is performed with a laser, and erasing is performed with hot air, hot water, an infrared heater, or the like. With a non-contact recording method, recording can be performed even when irregularities occur on the surface of the thermoreversible recording medium.

  As an example of such a non-contact recording apparatus using a laser, a technique for writing characters, numbers, symbols, or the like on a medium by irradiating a medium such as metal, plastic, or thermal paper with a laser beam and heating it. A laser irradiation device (laser marker or laser marking device) utilizing the above is commercially available.

  By irradiating a laser beam using a gas laser, a solid-state laser, a liquid laser, a semiconductor laser, or the like as a laser light source of the laser irradiation apparatus, characters or the like can be written on a medium such as metal, plastic, or thermal paper.

  Metals and plastics are drawn by shaving or scorching by irradiating with laser light and heating. On the other hand, thermal paper has the property of being discolored by heat, and drawing is performed when the recording layer is colored by heating with laser light irradiation.

  Since thermal paper is easier to handle than metal and plastic media, it is widely used as a medium for printing the address of an article and the name of an article in the field of logistics, for example.

  When using a thermoreversible recording medium, the thermoreversible recording medium is irradiated with laser light, and the photothermal conversion material in the medium absorbs light and converts it into heat, and recording and erasing can be performed with the heat. Is possible. Conventionally, as a method for performing image formation and erasure by laser, a laser recording method in which leuco dye, a reversible developer, and various photothermal conversion materials are combined and recorded by near infrared laser light has been proposed.

  A technique for printing a two-dimensional code on a medium using such a laser recording method is already known.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 1A, a two-dimensional code component that fits in a cell that is a square unit region (hereinafter, a component obtained by dividing an element included in a two-dimensional code component into cells is referred to as a two-dimensional code component. ), There is a method of drawing by raster scanning as shown in FIG. 1C. In this drawing method, each line segment for drawing a two-dimensional code is drawn line by line. When each two-dimensional code component included in the two-dimensional code is composed of two line segments, it is necessary to perform drawing over four lines in order to draw the two-dimensional code in FIG. After drawing the first line segment of the two-dimensional code part (the line segment indicated by the drawing order 1 and the line segment indicated by the drawing order 2), the second line segment (the line segments of the drawing order 3 and 4) is drawn. . Thereafter, a line segment on the third row (line segments indicated by drawing orders 5 and 6) and a line segment on the fourth line (line segments indicated by drawing orders 7 and 8) are drawn. By performing the raster scan in this way, the connected two-dimensional code component line segments can be connected and drawn, and the total distance when moving from the drawn line segment to the next line segment can be shortened. Thus, drawing can be performed in a short time (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, the conventional laser recording methods have a problem that it takes a long print time or print quality is poor when drawing a two-dimensional code. These problems are not limited to thermoreversible recording media, and are also problems that occur in laser processing of metals, plastics, and the like.

  Specifically, for example, there is a method of drawing each of the six two-dimensional code components as in the drawing orders 1 to 12 shown in FIG. In this method, with respect to six two-dimensional code components included in the two-dimensional code shown in FIG. 1A, after drawing one two-dimensional code component, the next two-dimensional code component is drawn.

  However, one two-dimensional code component is generally composed of a plurality of (multiple lines) line segments, as the two-dimensional code component shown in FIG. 1B is drawn with two line segments. In many cases, the drawing method shown in FIG. 1B has a problem that it takes a long time to move to the next two-dimensional code part every time and the whole drawing takes a long time.

Moreover, since the starting point of each line segment has less heat storage than the other parts, there is a problem that it is difficult to develop color. If it is desired to draw a two-dimensional code component as shown in FIG. 2 (a), if the starting point does not develop color and drawing is performed using the drawing method shown in FIG. 1 (b), as shown in FIG. In the horizontal direction in the figure, there is a gap between the adjacent two-dimensional code component.
In order to color the start point, it is necessary to irradiate the laser with a stronger drawing output. However, if the laser output is increased only at the start point, a large amount of energy is applied to the medium, resulting in a decrease in color or unerased residue. There is a problem that the performance is lowered.

  Further, in the method of FIG. 1C, since a long line segment for drawing two-dimensional code components connected in the row direction has a larger heat storage than a short line segment, the print density becomes high. . That is, when it is desired to draw a two-dimensional code component as shown in FIG. 3A, as shown in FIG. 3B, the connected two-dimensional code component is printed darker than a single two-dimensional code component. There is a problem of being done.

  Also in the method of FIG. 1C, as in the drawing method shown in FIG. 1B, the line segment is shortened by the amount of weak color development at the starting point. The effect of the phenomenon that the line segment becomes short is relatively larger for a single or short two-dimensional code component than for a connected two-dimensional code component, and therefore, as shown in FIG. A single or short two-dimensional code component is relatively larger than a two-dimensional code component that is present (that is, a single or short two-dimensional code component is printed smaller than a connected two-dimensional code component. ).

  In addition, when the length of one line of the two-dimensional code is small or the drawing speed is fast, the effect of heat when drawing the previous line remains when the next line is drawn. There is. In such a case, when the next line is drawn, as shown in FIG. 4, the portions that should not be colored other than the six two-dimensional code parts are colored, resulting in poor print quality. There was a problem. As described above, the coloration of the portion that should not be colored is a problem that occurs in both the drawing methods of FIGS. 1B and 1C.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a drawing control method, a laser irradiation apparatus, a drawing control program, and a recording medium in which the drawing control method can perform drawing with high quality and efficiency.

In a drawing control method according to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a computer controls a drawing device that draws a drawing target including a plurality of unit areas of the same size on a medium using line segments of a plurality of lines. In the drawing control method, the computer has a second line of the other unit region in the same row as the first line segment of the one unit region in the drawing direction of the first line segment of the one unit region. A determination step for determining whether or not the minutes are continuous; and when the determination step determines that the minutes are continuous, the second line segment is drawn following the drawing of the first line segment. Steps,
If it is determined in the determination step that the lines are not continuous, the second line segment is not drawn following the drawing of the first line segment, and a third line in a row different from the first line segment is drawn. Performing a minute drawing step.

  A drawing control method according to another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention is a drawing control method in which a computer controls a drawing device that draws a drawing target in a plurality of unit regions on the surface of a medium, the computer including the drawing When determining the drawing position for drawing a line segment included in the drawing object on the medium based on the drawing information for drawing the object, the drawing start position of one or more continuous line segments in the drawing direction is determined. A drawing position determining step for retreating a predetermined distance is executed.

  A drawing control method according to still another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention is a drawing control method in which a computer controls a drawing apparatus that draws a drawing target in a plurality of unit regions on a surface of a medium, and the computer includes: One or a plurality of continuous line segments included in the drawing target are divided into a plurality of drawing sections, and a drawing output for the drawing apparatus to draw the drawing target is pulsed for each of the one or more continuous drawing sections. A drawing output setting step for setting the shape is executed.

  A drawing control method according to still another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention is a drawing control method in which a computer controls a drawing apparatus that draws a drawing target in a plurality of unit regions on the surface of the medium, wherein the drawing target is A plurality of line segments, and the line segments are arranged in a plurality of lines, and when the computer determines the drawing order of the plurality of line segments included in the drawing target, To draw even-numbered line segments sequentially in line units, or to draw even-numbered line segments sequentially in line units and then odd-numbered line segments sequentially in line units. A drawing order determining step for determining the drawing order of the line segments is performed so as to draw.

  A laser irradiation apparatus according to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is a laser irradiation apparatus controlled by any one of the drawing control methods, wherein a laser oscillator that irradiates a laser, and an irradiation direction of the laser that the laser oscillator irradiates A direction control mirror for controlling, and a direction control motor for driving the direction control mirror.

  A drawing control program according to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is a drawing control program for executing any one of the drawing control methods.

  A recording medium on which a drawing control program according to an aspect of the present invention is recorded is a recording medium on which the drawing control program described above is recorded.

  It is possible to provide a drawing control method, a laser irradiation apparatus, a drawing control program, and a recording medium recording the same, which can perform drawing with high quality and efficiency.

It is a figure explaining the conventional drawing method. It is a figure explaining the problem in the conventional drawing method. It is a figure explaining the problem in the conventional drawing method. It is a figure explaining the problem in the conventional drawing method. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a laser marking device 100 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a drawing control apparatus 20. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of the drawing control apparatus 20 according to the first embodiment. (A) is a figure which shows an example of two-dimensional code DB41, (b) is a figure which shows an example of the figure which shows an example of drawing condition DB43. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a drawing order in which drawing is performed by the drawing control method of the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a drawing order determination process by the drawing control method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram for explaining that the starting point of a line segment is moved backward in the drawing direction by the drawing control method of the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a process of retreating the starting point of each line segment in the drawing direction when two line segments are intermittently drawn by the drawing control method according to the second embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a drawing order determination process by the drawing control method according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of a drawing control apparatus 320 according to a third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a drawing order determination process by the drawing control method according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a drawing order in which drawing is performed by the drawing control method of the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a drawing order according to a drawing control method of a fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a drawing procedure by the drawing control method according to the fourth embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a drawing control method, a laser irradiation apparatus, a drawing control program, and a recording medium on which the drawing control method of the present invention is applied will be described.

  Here, the term “drawing target” is used to indicate a two-dimensional code or a part of the drawing target.

  The “line segment” refers to a section that is included in a two-dimensional code or a part thereof as a drawing target and whose coordinates at both ends are determined in order to draw the drawing target. This line segment includes not only a part of a straight line but also a part of a curve, and has a thickness.

  Further, the “single-stroke component” is used as including one or a plurality of line segments that are continuously drawn from the position at which drawing is started to the position at which drawing is ended next. For example, when drawing is performed by laser irradiation, one stroke drawn from the start point of laser irradiation to the end point of irradiation is a one-stroke component.

  For this reason, the two-dimensional code as a drawing target or a component thereof includes one or more one-stroke components, and the one-stroke component includes one or more line segments.

  In addition, the term “drawing order” refers to the order in which line segments included in the drawing target are drawn (including the drawing order of which line ends are drawn from) and a plurality of drawings included in the two-dimensional code. It is used as having two meanings of the order of drawing each of the objects.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the laser marking device 100 according to the first embodiment.

  The laser marking device 100 includes a drawing device 10 that irradiates a laser, and a drawing control device 20 that controls drawing of the drawing device 10. The drawing apparatus 10 includes a laser oscillator 11 that irradiates a laser, a direction control mirror 13 that changes the laser irradiation direction, a direction control motor 12 that drives the direction control mirror 13, an optical lens 14, and a condenser lens 15.

  The laser oscillator 11 is a semiconductor laser (LD (Laser Diode)), but may be a gas laser, a solid laser, a liquid laser, or the like. The direction control motor 12 is, for example, a servo motor that controls the direction of the reflecting surface of the direction control mirror 13 to two axes. The direction control motor 12 and the direction control mirror 13 constitute a galvano mirror. The optical lens 14 is a lens that increases the spot diameter of the laser light, and the condenser lens 15 is a lens that converges the laser light.

  The rewritable medium 50 is a rewritable heat-sensitive medium that develops color when heated to a temperature of 180 ° C. or higher and rapidly cools and decolors when heated to a temperature of 130 to 170 ° C. Normal thermal paper and thermal rewritable media do not absorb near-infrared laser light, so when using a laser light source that oscillates near-infrared laser wavelengths (semiconductor lasers, solid-state laser YAG, etc.) It is necessary to add a material or a layer that absorbs laser light to the rewritable medium. Note that rewriting means recording by heating with laser light, and erasing by heating with laser light, hot air, hot stamp, or the like. The non-rewritable thermal paper refers to thermal paper that is difficult to be decolored by heating. In this embodiment, the case where the rewritable medium 50 is used will be described as an example of the medium to be used. However, it is also suitable for a medium that cannot be rewritten such as thermal paper, plastic, metal, etc. that cannot be rewritten. Applicable.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the drawing control apparatus 20. FIG. 6 is a hardware configuration diagram when the drawing control apparatus 20 is mainly implemented by software, and a computer is used as an entity. When the drawing control apparatus 20 is realized without using a computer as an entity, an IC generated for a specific function such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) is used.

  The drawing control device 20 includes a CPU 31, a memory 32, a hard disk 35, an input device 36, a CD-ROM drive 33, a display 37 and a network device 34. In the hard disk 35, a drawing program 42 for generating a drawing command for drawing a two-dimensional code and a two-dimensional code DB 41 for storing data representing parts included in the two-dimensional code and the two-dimensional code, and controlling the drawing device 10; And a drawing condition DB 43 are stored.

  The CPU 31 reads and executes the drawing program 42 from the hard disk 35, refers to the two-dimensional code DB 41, and draws the two-dimensional code on the rewritable medium 50 according to the procedure described later. The memory 32 is a volatile memory such as a DRAM, and serves as a work area when the CPU 31 executes the drawing program 42.

  The input device 36 is a device for a user to input an instruction to control the drawing device 10 such as a mouse or a keyboard. A drawing condition indicating the size of a drawing target such as a component included in the two-dimensional code to be drawn on the rewritable medium 50 is input by the user via the input device 36, for example. The input drawing conditions are stored in, for example, the hard disk 35 as the drawing condition DB 43. The drawing conditions include data representing the position and size of each drawing target as a component in the two-dimensional code. The data structure of the drawing conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The display 37 is a user interface that displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen with a predetermined resolution and number of colors based on screen information instructed by the drawing program 42, for example. For example, an input field for a two-dimensional code or component to be drawn on the rewritable medium 50 is displayed.

  The CD-ROM drive 33 is configured to be detachable from the CD-ROM 38, and is used when reading data from the CD-ROM 38 and writing data on a recordable recording medium. The two-dimensional code DB 41 and the drawing program 42 are distributed in a state stored in the CD-ROM 38, read from the CD-ROM 38, and installed in the hard disk 35. In addition, the CD-ROM 38 can be replaced with a nonvolatile memory such as a DVD, a Blu-ray disc, an SD card, a memory stick (registered trademark), a multimedia card, and an xD card.

  The network device 34 is an interface (for example, an Ethernet (registered trademark) card) for connecting to a network such as a LAN or the Internet, and executes processing in accordance with protocols defined in the physical layer and data link layer of the OSI basic reference model. Thus, a drawing command corresponding to a code representing the type of the two-dimensional code can be transmitted to the drawing apparatus 10. The two-dimensional code DB 41 and the drawing program 42 can be downloaded from a predetermined server connected via a network. Note that the drawing control apparatus 20 and the drawing apparatus 10 may be directly connected via USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE 1394, wireless USB, Bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like, not via a network.

  The two-dimensional code drawn on the rewritable medium 50 is input from the input device 36 as described above, and is stored in the hard disk 35 as, for example, list data. The size of the drawing target included in the two-dimensional code drawn on the rewritable medium 50 constitutes a drawing condition.

  The two-dimensional code is specified by a code representing the type of the two-dimensional code, and the drawing control device 20 reads the data of the two-dimensional code corresponding to the type of the two-dimensional code from the two-dimensional code DB 41 and controls the drawing device 10. Used when generating the drawing command.

  Next, functional blocks of the drawing control apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the drawing control apparatus 20 according to the first embodiment. When each block is realized by software, each block is realized by the CPU 31 executing the drawing program 42.

  The drawing control apparatus 20 includes a drawing position determination unit 21, a drawing order determination unit 22, a drawing command generation unit 23, a two-dimensional code acquisition unit 24, and a drawing condition acquisition unit 25.

  The drawing position determination unit 21 includes data representing the type of the two-dimensional code or the two-dimensional code component read from the two-dimensional code DB 41 by the two-dimensional code acquisition unit 24 and the drawing condition read from the drawing condition DB 43 by the drawing condition acquisition unit 25. Based on the above, coordinate data that is a drawing position for drawing the drawing target on the rewritable medium 50 is determined. Note that the drawing conditions include data representing the position, size, and the like of each component to be drawn in the two-dimensional code. Data representing the drawing conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The drawing command generation unit 23 generates a drawing command reflecting the coordinate data determined by the drawing position determination unit 21 and the drawing order determined by the drawing order determination unit 22. The generated drawing command is input to the drawing device 10, and as a result, a drawing target representing a two-dimensional code or a part input by the user to the input device 36 is drawn on the rewritable medium 50 by the drawing device 10.

  The drawing condition acquisition unit 25 stores a two-dimensional code including a drawing target component to be drawn on the rewritable medium 50 and a drawing condition indicating a size condition of a component as a drawing target included in the two-dimensional code in the hard disk 35. Obtained from the drawing condition DB 43.

  FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating an example of the two-dimensional code DB 41, and FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating an example of a diagram illustrating an example of the drawing condition DB 43.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, the two-dimensional code DB 41 includes a code for specifying the type of the two-dimensional code or the two-dimensional code component, and the data of the two-dimensional code or the two-dimensional code component specified by this code. An identifier representing the content is stored.

  As shown in FIG. 8B, the drawing condition DB 43 includes a code for specifying the type of a two-dimensional code or two-dimensional code component as a drawing target, and a position (x, y coordinate) where each drawing target is arranged. ) And position data representing the size. The coordinate value indicating the position of the drawing target is, for example, the coordinates of the upper left point of the area where the drawing target is arranged.

  Note that, as data included in FIGS. 8A and 8B, symbols combining alphabets and numerals are shown, but specific numerical values and the like are given in an actual drawing control apparatus.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a drawing order in which drawing is performed by the drawing control method of the first embodiment. 9A and 9B, the x axis and the y axis are taken as shown in the figure. The x-axis and y-axis constitute an x-y coordinate system representing coordinate values (x, y) where the drawing target is arranged.

  The two-dimensional code shown in FIG. 9A is the same as the two-dimensional code shown in FIG. The two-dimensional code 200 includes six two-dimensional code parts 201 to 206 from the upper left to the lower right. Each of the two-dimensional code components 201 to 206 is drawn in two lines. Here, the description will be made on the assumption that the size of the two-dimensional code component is equal to the size of a cell which is a unit region when drawing on the surface of the rewritable medium 50.

  In the drawing control method of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9B, the upper left two-dimensional code components 201 and 202 are drawn by irradiating laser in the drawing order 1 and 2. Next, the two-dimensional code component 203 is drawn by irradiating laser in the drawing orders 3 and 4. Next, the two-dimensional code component 204 is drawn by irradiating the laser in the drawing orders 5 and 6. Finally, the two-dimensional code parts 205 and 206 are drawn by irradiating the laser in the drawing orders 7 and 8. Such determination of the drawing order is realized by a drawing order determination process shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a drawing order determination process by the drawing control method according to the first embodiment.

  First, the drawing position determination unit 21 draws all the two-dimensional code components included in the two-dimensional code read from the two-dimensional code DB 41 by the two-dimensional code acquisition unit 24 and the drawing read from the drawing condition DB 43 by the drawing condition acquisition unit 25. Based on the conditions, coordinate data that is a drawing position for drawing the drawing target on the rewritable medium 50 is determined (step S1). Thereby, the coordinates at which all the two-dimensional code components 201 to 206 are drawn by laser irradiation are determined.

  Next, the drawing order determination means 22 selects the two-dimensional code component at the upper left among all the two-dimensional code components as the first two-dimensional code component (step S2). Thereby, in the example shown in FIG. 9A, the two-dimensional code component 201 is selected.

  Next, the drawing order determination unit 22 selects the line segment on the upper left among the line segments included in the two-dimensional code component selected in step S2 (step S3).

  Next, the drawing order determination unit 22 determines whether or not the line segment selected in step S3 includes a line segment continuous in the row direction (horizontal direction: x-axis direction) (step S4). The process of step S4 is a process of determining the presence or absence of all line segments that are continuous in the row direction (x-axis direction) with the line segment selected in step S3.

  If it is determined in step S4 that there is a continuous line segment, the drawing order determination unit 22 draws all the continuous line segments whose existence has been confirmed in step S4 to be continuous with the line segment selected in step S3. In order (step S5).

  Next, the drawing order determination means 22 determines whether or not there is a line segment in the next lower row in the same two-dimensional code component (step S6). Thereby, in the example shown in FIG. 9A, the line segment of the first row of the two-dimensional code component 202 adjacent to the two-dimensional code component 201 is selected.

  If it is determined in step S6 that there is a line segment in the lower row, the drawing order determination unit 22 returns the flow to step S3, and the line segment on the leftmost side of the row is selected. Thereafter, the processing of steps S3 to S6 is repeatedly executed, thereby determining the drawing order for the two-dimensional code component first selected in step S2. As a result, in the example shown in FIG. 9A, the second line segment of the two-dimensional code components 201 and 202 is selected, and the drawing orders 1 and 2 shown in FIG. 9B are determined.

  If it is determined in step S6 that there is no line segment in the lower row, the flow proceeds to step S7, and the drawing order determination unit 22 determines whether it is the last two-dimensional code part (step S7). .

  If it is determined in step S7 that it is not the last two-dimensional code part, the drawing order determining means 22 selects the next two-dimensional code part (step S8), and the flow returns to step S3. In step S8, all the two-dimensional code parts are sequentially selected from the upper left to the lower right. As a result, in the example shown in FIG. 9A, the two-dimensional code component 203 further to the right of the two-dimensional code component 202 is selected. Next to the two-dimensional code component 203, the two-dimensional code components 204, 205, and 206 are repeatedly selected.

  If it is determined in step S7 that it is the last two-dimensional code part, the drawing order determination means 22 determines the drawing order determined so far (step S9). Thereby, the drawing order of all line segments included in the two-dimensional code component is determined.

  Next, the drawing command generating unit 23 generates a drawing command reflecting the coordinate data determined by the drawing position determining unit 21 and the drawing order determined by the drawing order determining unit 22 (step S10). As a result, in the example shown in FIG. 9A, the drawing orders 1 to 8 shown in FIG. 9B are determined for the two-dimensional code components 201 to 206.

  Then, drawing based on the drawing command is executed (step S11). As a result, the two-dimensional code component 200 shown in FIG. 9A is drawn by laser irradiation.

  As described above, according to the drawing order determined by the drawing control method of the first embodiment, the end point of line segment 1 → the start point of line segment 2, the end point of line segment 2 → the start point of line segment 3, and the line shown in FIG. The moving time from the end point of minute 3 to the start point of line 4 is reduced.

  As described above, according to the drawing control method of the first embodiment, the drawing order is determined so that drawing is performed for each continuous two-dimensional code component, so that the time for drawing the entire two-dimensional code can be shortened. it can.

  In the first embodiment, the two-dimensional code is drawn. However, the drawing control method of the first embodiment draws other than the two-dimensional code such as characters, numbers, symbols, or figures on the medium. You may apply to drawing of object.

[Embodiment 2]
The drawing control method of the second embodiment is such that the starting point of the line segment is moved backward by a predetermined distance in the drawing direction in the drawing position determining step executed by the drawing position determining means 21.

  The hardware configuration, block configuration, and data structure shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 are the same as those of the drawing control apparatus that executes the drawing control method of the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof is omitted and is used in the following description. To do.

  FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram for explaining that the starting point of a line segment is retracted in the drawing direction (x-axis direction) by the drawing control method of the second embodiment.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a process of retreating the starting point of each line segment in the drawing direction when the two line segments are intermittently drawn by the drawing control method according to the second embodiment.

  The drawing position determination unit 21 includes data representing the type of the two-dimensional code or the two-dimensional code component read from the two-dimensional code DB 41 by the two-dimensional code acquisition unit 24 and the drawing condition read from the drawing condition DB 43 by the drawing condition acquisition unit 25. Based on the above, when determining the coordinate data, the drawing start position of the line segment as the starting point is moved backward by a predetermined distance d. That is, by this process, the line segment including the start point is extended by the distance d in the direction of retreating in the drawing direction (x-axis direction), and the laser beam is irradiated from the drawing start position retracted by the distance d. Will be.

  Here, the start point means a drawing start position at which drawing does not exist on the upstream side in the drawing direction and drawing starts in that line, and the drawing direction means the horizontal direction in the figure. .

  Further, when the two line segments 12A and 12B are drawn intermittently by the drawing control method of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the start point of each line segment is moved backward by a distance d in the drawing direction. Good. As a result, the positions where laser irradiation is started are points A1 and B1, which are receded by a distance d in the drawing direction from the points A2 and B2 at which coloring of the line segments 12A and 12B to be drawn starts.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a drawing order determination process according to the drawing control method of the second embodiment.

  The drawing order determination process by the drawing control method of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 13 is performed between step S5 and step S6 of the drawing order determination process (see FIG. 10) of the drawing control method of the first embodiment. Is a process in which is inserted. The processes in steps S1 to S11 shown in FIG. 13 are all the same as the processes in steps S1 to S11 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 13, when it is determined in step S4 that there is no continuous line segment by the drawing order determination means 22, or when the drawing order is set by the drawing order determination means 22 in step S5, the process of step S130 is performed. Done.

  In step S130, the drawing position determining means 21 moves the drawing start position of the line segment serving as the starting point backward by a predetermined distance d (step S130). As a result, the line segment including the start point is extended by the distance d in the direction of retreating in the drawing direction, and the laser is irradiated from the drawing start position that is retracted by the distance d.

  It should be noted that the drawing start position of the line segment that is the starting point is rewritten such as the width of the line segment to be drawn, the laser output, the medium (rewritable medium 50, non-rewritable thermal paper, plastic, metal, etc.). An experimental value may be obtained in advance based on drawing conditions such as the thermal characteristics of a medium that is not possible, or the temperature of the medium at the time of drawing, and set to an optimum value according to the drawing conditions.

  When the process of step S130 ends, the drawing order determination unit 22 determines whether or not there is a line segment in the line below by one line in the same two-dimensional code component (step S6).

  Thereafter, similarly to the drawing order determination process by the drawing control method of the first embodiment, the processes after step S6 are executed.

  As described above, according to the drawing control method of the second embodiment, since the coordinates of the starting point are moved backward by the distance d in the drawing direction, the starting point portion to be drawn is not shortened, and FIG. As shown in c), the problem caused by the difficulty of coloring the starting point is solved, and the size of the two-dimensional code component due to the gap between the two-dimensional code components and the difference between the single two-dimensional code component and the connected two-dimensional code component It is possible to draw a two-dimensional code with reduced variations. That is, accurate and high-quality drawing can be executed efficiently.

  In the second embodiment, the two-dimensional code is drawn. However, the drawing control method of the first embodiment draws other than the two-dimensional code such as characters, numbers, symbols, or figures on the medium. You may apply to drawing of object.

[Embodiment 3]
The drawing control method of Embodiment 3 divides one or a plurality of continuous line segments into a plurality of drawing sections, and sets the drawing output (laser output) in a pulse shape for each drawing section.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of the drawing control device 320 according to the third embodiment. When each block is realized by software, each block is realized by the CPU 31 executing the drawing program 42.

  The drawing control device 320 includes a drawing output determination unit 326 in addition to the drawing position determination unit 21, the drawing order determination unit 22, the drawing command generation unit 23, the two-dimensional code acquisition unit 24, and the drawing condition acquisition unit 25. Among these, the drawing position determining means 21, the drawing order determining means 22, the drawing command generating means 23, the two-dimensional code acquiring means 24, and the drawing condition acquiring means 25 are included in the drawing control apparatus 20 of the first embodiment. Since it is the same, the description is omitted.

  The drawing output determining unit 326 divides one or a plurality of continuous line segments into a plurality of drawing sections, and sets the drawing output (laser output) in a pulse shape for each drawing section. The drawing output determining unit 326 generates a pulsed laser output by turning on / off the laser oscillator 11. The scanning method of the galvanometer mirror is the same as that of the first embodiment in which the laser output is not pulsed, and there is no change due to the pulsed laser output.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a drawing order determination process according to the drawing control method of the third embodiment.

  The drawing order determination process by the drawing control method of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 15 is performed between step S5 and step S6 of the drawing order determination process (see FIG. 10) by the drawing control method of the first embodiment. Is a process in which is inserted. The processes in steps S1 to S11 shown in FIG. 15 are all the same as the processes in steps S1 to S11 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 15, when it is determined in step S4 that there is a continuous line segment by the drawing order determination unit 22, and the drawing order is set by the drawing order determination unit 22 in step S5, the process of step S150 is performed. .

  In step S150, the drawing output determining unit 326 sets the drawing output so that the drawing output for drawing the continuous line segment becomes a pulse shape when drawing the continuous line segment (step S150).

  More specifically, the drawing output determining unit 326 draws a continuous line segment so that there is a section in which the laser output is zero between the continuous line segments (a joint between the line segments). As a result, the drawing output for drawing a continuous line segment is set in a pulse shape.

  That is, each continuous line segment is drawn with one pulse (in line segment units), and a section in which the laser output is zero is provided between the line segments (a joint between the line segments). As a result, a single line segment that is not continuous with the other line segments and each of a plurality of continuous line segments are continuously output in units of line segments for drawing.

  As for the length of the section where the laser output is zero, the width of the line segment to be drawn, the laser output, and the medium (rewritable medium 50, non-rewritable medium such as non-rewritable thermal paper, plastic, metal, etc.) The experimental value may be obtained in advance according to the drawing characteristics such as the thermal characteristics of the medium or the temperature of the medium at the time of drawing, and set to an optimum value according to the drawing conditions.

  When the processing of step S150 is completed, the drawing order determination unit 22 determines whether or not there is a line segment in the line below by one line in the same two-dimensional code component (step S6).

  Thereafter, similarly to the drawing order determination process by the drawing control method of the first embodiment, the processes after step S6 are executed.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a drawing order in which drawing is performed by the drawing control method of the third embodiment.

  The two-dimensional code shown in FIG. 16A is the same as the two-dimensional code shown in FIG. The two-dimensional code 200 includes six two-dimensional code parts 201 to 206 from the upper left to the lower right. Each two-dimensional code component 201-206 shall be drawn by two lines.

  In the drawing control method of the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16B, the entire drawing order is the same as the raster scan shown in FIG. And the drawing output is pulsed for each divided drawing section. Note that the drawing control method according to the third embodiment is such that one or a plurality of continuous line segments are divided into a plurality of drawing sections, and the drawing output (laser output) is set in a pulse shape for each drawing section. As shown in FIG. 16B, the order is not limited to the raster scan.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 16C, when drawing four continuous line segments 302 to 305 across a blank after one line segment 301, each of the continuous line segments 302 to 305 is drawn. At the time of drawing, as shown in FIG. 16D, a drawing command for generating a pulse-like drawing output to the drawing apparatus 10 is generated. The drawing command for realizing the pulse-like drawing output is not limited to the method in which the drawing output determining unit 326 determines to output the pulse-like drawing output when drawing a continuous line segment. Without providing the means 326, a pulse-like drawing output can be obtained by dividing continuous line segments in the coordinate data and shortening them by a predetermined length so that the line segments are not connected. Good.

  By doing in this way, the heat storage of a long connected two-dimensional code component can be reduced, and a short line segment and a connected line segment can be drawn with a uniform density.

  In the example shown in FIG. 16, the ON / OFF boundary of the pulse is matched to the cell size, but the pulse width and the pulse interval are not limited to this and may be arbitrarily determined.

  Further, a single line segment such as the line segment 301 shown in FIG. 16C may be divided into a plurality of sections.

  In the third embodiment, the laser oscillator 11 is turned on / off to make the laser output (drawing output) pulsed, and the galvanometer mirror is operated to generate the pulsed laser output. I have not done it. Accordingly, a pulsed laser output can be generated only by turning on / off the laser oscillator 11, and the laser output can be turned on / off at high speed, so that the present invention can be applied to drawing at high speed.

  In addition, such a pulsed drawing output may be incorporated in the drawing control method of the first and second embodiments, or may be incorporated in the drawing control method of the fourth embodiment described later.

  In the third embodiment described above, the two-dimensional code is drawn. However, the drawing control method of the first embodiment draws other than the two-dimensional code such as characters, numbers, symbols, or figures on the medium. You may apply to drawing of object.

[Embodiment 4]
FIG. 17 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a drawing order according to the drawing control method of the fourth embodiment.

  The drawing control method according to the fourth embodiment includes a plurality of drawing control methods when determining the drawing order of the two-dimensional code 400 completed by drawing a plurality of lines in the drawing order determining step executed by the drawing order determination unit 22. Of the line segments, the odd-numbered line segments are drawn sequentially in units of lines, and the even-numbered line segments are drawn sequentially in units of lines, or even-numbered line segments are drawn sequentially in units of lines. Then, the drawing order of all the line segments included in the two-dimensional code 400 is determined so that the odd-numbered line segments are sequentially drawn in units of lines.

  Therefore, the hardware configuration, block configuration, and data structure are the same as those of the drawing control apparatus that executes the drawing control method of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Incorporated in the description.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 17, from the upper line to the lower line, the line segments included in the odd-numbered lines (from the first line to the 21st line) are drawn from the left to the right by the interlace method. When the lower 21st line is completed, the drawing method returns to the upper side and draws the line segments included in the even-numbered lines (from the 2nd line to the 20th line) from left to right by the interlace method.

  If the length of one line of the two-dimensional code is small or the printing speed is high, the effect of the heat of the previous line remains when the next line is drawn, and the part that should not be colored is colored. As a result, there is a problem in that the print quality deteriorates.

  However, in the drawing order shown in FIG. 17, since odd lines and even lines are sequentially drawn in an interlaced manner, the influence of heat at the time of drawing odd lines adjacent to even lines is suppressed. Similarly, odd lines are adjacent to each other. The influence of heat when drawing even-numbered lines is suppressed.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent a portion that should not be colored due to the heat of the previous row from being colored.

  For example, the same effect can be obtained regardless of whether the line segment included in the two-dimensional code component corresponding to the size of one cell is one or plural.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a drawing procedure according to the drawing control method of the fourth embodiment.

  In FIG. 18, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents the drawing position in the y-axis direction. FIG. 18 shows a drawing procedure when drawing a two-dimensional code of six lines in the y-axis direction. In FIG. 18, the drawing position in the y-axis direction is represented on the vertical axis with the upward direction being positive. The two-dimensional code that is actually drawn is the same as the 21-line two-dimensional code shown in FIG. Draw downwards.

  FIG. 18A shows a drawing procedure when a two-dimensional code component is drawn by one line segment, and FIG. 18B shows a two-dimensional code component drawn by two line segments. FIG. 9 shows a drawing procedure when it is set (see FIG. 9).

  In FIGS. 18A and 18B, a section indicated by a broken line represents a section that moves (is idle) to the start point of a line segment to be drawn next without drawing. A section indicated by a solid line represents a section in which a line segment is drawn.

  In actual drawing, a standby time is provided for waiting for the galvano mirror to stabilize at the start and end points of the free-running section, but the standby time is very small compared to the time required for the drawing and free-running sections. Therefore, it is omitted in FIG. In the following, the procedure shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B will be described as being executed by the drawing control apparatus 20 (incorporating FIG. 7) of the fourth embodiment.

  In FIG. 18A, the drawing control apparatus 20 starts drawing at time t = 0 and draws the first line segment from t = 0 to t1. Next, the process moves to the third line, and the third line is drawn at times t1 to t2. Next, the process moves to the fifth line, and the fifth line is drawn at times t2 to t3.

  When the drawing of the fifth line segment is completed, the drawing control apparatus 20 moves to the second line to draw the even-numbered line, and draws the second line segment at times t3 to t4. Next, the process moves to the fourth line, and the fourth line is drawn at times t4 to t5. Next, the process moves to the sixth line, and the sixth line is drawn at times t5 to t6.

  As described above, the drawing process by the drawing control apparatus 20 is completed, and drawing divided into odd and even lines can be performed in the same manner as the two-dimensional code 400 shown in FIG.

  Next, the drawing procedure shown in FIG. 18B will be described.

  In FIG. 18B, the drawing control apparatus 20 starts drawing at time t = 0, and draws the first line segment of the first row from t = 0 to t1. Next, the second line segment in the first row is drawn at times t1 to t2. Next, the process moves to the third line, the first line on the third line is drawn at times t2 to t3, and the second line on the third line is drawn at times t3 to t4. Next, the process moves to the fifth line, the first line on the fifth line is drawn at times t4 to t5, and the second line on the fifth line is drawn at times t5 to t6.

  When the drawing of the fifth line segment is completed, the drawing control apparatus 20 moves to the second line to draw the even-numbered line, draws the first line of the second line from time t6 to t7, The second line in the second line is drawn from t7 to t8. Next, the process moves to the fourth line, the first line on the fourth line is drawn at times t8 to t9, and the second line on the fourth line is drawn at times t9 to t10. Next, the process moves to the sixth line, the first line on the sixth line is drawn at times t10 to t11, and the second line on the sixth line is drawn at times t11 to t12.

  With the above, the drawing process by the drawing control apparatus 20 is completed, and for a drawing target that needs to draw a two-dimensional code component with two line segments in the same manner as the two-dimensional code 400 shown in FIG. Drawing divided into odd and even lines can be performed.

  As described above, according to the drawing control method of the fourth embodiment, accurate and high-quality drawing can be efficiently executed by suppressing the influence of heat between adjacent odd and even rows.

  This interlace drawing control method can also be combined with the drawing control methods of the first to third embodiments.

  Further, in the above-described fourth embodiment, the form of drawing a two-dimensional code has been described. However, the drawing control method of the first embodiment draws other than a two-dimensional code such as characters, numbers, symbols, or figures on a medium. You may apply to drawing of object.

  As described above, the drawing control method, the laser irradiation apparatus, the drawing control program, and the recording medium on which the drawing control method according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention is specifically described in the embodiment. The present invention is not limited, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Drawing apparatus 11 Laser oscillator 12 Direction control motor 13 Direction control mirror 14 Optical lens 15 Condensing lens 20 Drawing control apparatus 21 Drawing position determination means 22 Drawing order determination means 23 Drawing command generation means 24 Two-dimensional code acquisition means 25 Drawing condition acquisition 25 Means 31 CPU
32 Memory 33 CD-ROM drive 34 Network device 35 Hard disk 36 Input device 37 Display 38 CD-ROM (storage medium)
41 Two-dimensional code DB
42 Drawing program 43 Drawing condition DB
50 Rewritable medium 100 Laser marking device

Japanese Patent No. 3501987

Claims (4)

A drawing control method in which a computer controls a drawing apparatus that draws a drawing target including a plurality of unit areas of the same size on a medium with a plurality of line segments.
The computer
Whether or not the second line segment of the other unit region in the same row as the first line segment of the one unit region is continuous in the drawing direction of the first line segment of one unit region. A judgment step to judge;
If it is determined in the determining step that the second line segment is continuous, the second line segment is drawn following the drawing of the first line segment;
If it is determined in the determination step that the lines are not continuous, the second line segment is not drawn following the drawing of the first line segment, and a third line in a row different from the first line segment is drawn. Drawing a minute in the same drawing direction as the drawing direction of the first line segment ;
A drawing control method to execute. In the laser irradiation apparatus controlled by the drawing control method according to claim 1,
A laser oscillator for irradiating a laser;
A direction control mirror for controlling the irradiation direction of the laser irradiated by the laser oscillator;
A direction control motor for driving the direction control mirror;
A laser irradiation apparatus.   A drawing control program for executing the drawing control method according to claim 1.   A recording medium on which the drawing control program according to claim 3 is recorded.

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