Plotter head control device
US4853715A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 17, 1988 |
| Grant date | Aug 1, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 17, 2008 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01D15/22
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A pen plotter employs a cable-driven carriage which carries the writing pen and includes a pen-lift mechanism. A shifting idler pulley system located at one side of the plotter returns a pair of drive cables from the opposite side of the carriage to a rotatable drive drum located on the opposite side. The idler pulleys are shiftable equally and in opposite directions toward and away from the pen carriage. One cable is connected to the carriage by being tensively trained about a pen-lift mechanism drive wheel on the carriage. Shifting the idler pulleys causes said drive wheel to rotate without affecting the lateral position of the pen carriage and, therefore, the shifter mechanism independently controls the up/down motion of the writing pen. One drive cable, therefore, accomplishes the functions of both pen carriage movement and writing pen up/down motion control.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.