JPH04349506A - Converting method for plate working graphic data - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To output line data being out or order in order or connection by searching connectable line data and setting a connection flag, and fetching these line data in order of connection by the connection flag, with regard to each line data of an input graphic. CONSTITUTION:From a host computer, CAD data is inputted. This CAD data is the whole data of a graphic for blanking a perforated plate from a stock, and consists of a line data group containing a blanking line and many punching lines. In the inputted line data, all circular data are outputted as they are without executing any processing. Thereafter, the processing goes into a search process Q1 consisting of a search range reducing process Q11 and a search regular processing process Q12. After an initial value of a variable I is set to '1', the range is reduced in the search range reducing process Q11. As for this reduction, the reduction is set to a range of X+ or -alpha, based on the X coordinate of an end point of an I-th element (line data) as a reference. An element whose end point exists within this range is extracted.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention converts so-called CAD figures created by a general automatic drafting system into figure data with a structure that facilitates automatic creation of NC data, or converts CAD figures in different figure expression formats into The present invention relates to a method for converting plate material processing graphic data into graphic data for creating NC data.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in plate processing using punch presses, laser processing machines, etc., CAD/CAM systems have been integrated, and graphic data from CAD (computer-aided design) is used as data for creating processing programs for NC machine tools. A system has been developed that can be used as is.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in this way, C
CAD that constitutes a CAD/CAM integrated system can use AD figures as they are as NC data attached figures.
Only if entered directly into the system.

[0004] CAD figures created using a general CAD system for automatic drafting have poor accuracy, data arrangement, etc., as described below, and cannot be used as NC data-added figures. A similar problem also occurs when data is converted between CAD systems with different graphic data representation formats.

[0005] Therefore, even if a CAD figure has been created, it is necessary to re-input it into the CAD/CAM integrated system used from the beginning. Therefore, there are problems in that it takes time and effort for the operator, and erroneous input may occur when re-entering. Note that the CAD figure here refers to a figure that appears to be correctly drawn on a display or an XY plotter. Further, the NC data-added figure refers to a CAD figure that is an accurate figure that can be processed and has a data structure that makes it easy to create NC data. Both the CAD figure and the NC data-added figure look exactly the same on a display or an XY plotter.

The problems with general CAD figures are as follows (a)
~(g) Shown in (g). (a) As shown in Figure 15(A), even if an apparently accurate closed figure is created, the line data of each side is
As shown in B), the data arrangement order is often not arranged in the connection order. If the connection order is different in this way, conversion to NC data is often impossible.

(b) Even if an apparently accurate closed figure as shown in FIG. 16(A) is enlarged as shown in FIG. 16(B), the corners 100 may be separated or intersect. , and a line break 101 may occur in the middle of a side. Therefore, it cannot be used as is as processed line data.

(c) As shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the contact points 103 that draw continuous arcs are separated (
(See enlarged view (C)). Also, even if they are connected when you draw the diagram, they may become separated when you rotate it.

(d) As shown in FIGS. 18(A) and 18(B), when each CAD system has its own graphic representation format, accurate conversion may not be possible. The same figure (A
) CAD system, the starting point 104 and the ending point 105
An arc shape is expressed by the coordinates of and the radius r. The central angle α may be used instead of the radius r. CAD of the same figure (B)
In the system, an arc is expressed by a center coordinate A, a starting angle β, a drawing angle γ, and a radius r. Therefore, when data is converted between both systems, an error may occur in the coordinates of the starting point 104 and the ending point 105, and the connection may become separated when connecting to another line.

(e) If it is not possible to directly convert between CAD systems, convert indirectly to a format that can be commonly converted to both systems. In this case, since the conversion operation is performed twice, conversion errors occur during each conversion, and these errors accumulate to increase the conversion error.

(f) When the calculation is repeated for conversion,
Loss of significant digits may occur.

(g) As shown in FIG. 19, a general sheet metal processing figure includes an outer drawing line L1 and inner drawing lines L2 to L4, but these cannot be distinguished in a general CAD drawing.

[0013] As a method to solve such problems,
The present applicant has proposed a conversion method for sheet material processing figure data in which even if the coordinates of the end points of line data are slightly different, if they are within a predetermined proximity range, they are corrected to the same coordinates (Patent Application No.
No. 302412). However, the conversion processing speed was not satisfactory.

[0014] An object of the present invention is to create graphic data with a structure that makes it easy to create NC data for graphic data drawn using a general automatic drafting system or a drafting system with different expression formats, that is, to prevent connection parts from separating and It is an object of the present invention to provide a conversion method for plate material processing graphic data, which can convert line data of continuous lines into graphic data arranged in the order of connection, and can perform conversion processing at high speed.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A data conversion method of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. 1, which corresponds to an embodiment. This conversion method includes a search step (Q1) that searches for line data that can be connected and sets a connection flag, and an output step (Q2) that outputs line data in the order of connection according to the connection flag. In Q2), the coordinates of the connection end points are corrected. The search process (Q1) is a search range narrowing process (Q1).
1) and a search book processing step (Q12).

In the search range narrowing step (Q11), a search narrowing range is set for each line data of the line data group representing a graphic element of the input figure based on the coordinates of the end points of the line data, and the end points within this range are set. Extract some line data. The search range is narrowed down, for example, only in one of the X and Y coordinate axis directions.

In the main search process (Q12), line data that can be connected is searched from among the extracted line data (U5, V2). At this time, if there is line data whose end point is within a predetermined proximity range from the coordinates of the end point of any line data, it is determined that the line data is connectable. When connectable line data is searched, a connection flag is set between both line data (U5
, V4).

In the output step (Q2), the line data with connection flags set are output in the order of connection according to the connection flags. In this case, the line data is output continuously until the connection is broken or the line data returns to the line data at the start of the connection. When outputting line data, the coordinates of the corresponding nearby end points of the line data for which the connection flag has been set are corrected to the same coordinates at the time of output or before output.

[0019]

[Operation] The input figure is figure data drawn by a general automatic drawing system, etc., and even if it appears to be a closed figure as an output figure of a display or plotter, strictly speaking, it is often separated. That is, the coordinates of the end points of each line data are strictly different. Furthermore, even in one closed figure, line data are often arranged in random order. In this way, even if the lines are technically far apart,
If it is within a predetermined proximity range, it is determined that the line should be connected, and a connection flag is set.

In the search process (Q1), the search range is narrowed down (Q11) as a preprocess to reduce the number of line data to be searched. Therefore, search time is shortened. Line data extraction time is necessary in the narrowing down process (Q11), but line data extraction (U4) only needs to compare coordinate values in one coordinate axis direction, so line data search in a nearby range requires a large number of processes. This can be done in a shorter time than (U5). Therefore, when there is a large amount of line data, the total time required for searching is significantly reduced even if the line data extraction time is added.

In the output step (Q2), the line data is output in the order of connection by tracing the connection flags and outputting the line data. If there are multiple continuous lines, line data is output for each series of continuous lines connected by connection flags. At this time, the coordinates of the corresponding adjacent end points of the pair of line data for which the connection flag has been set are corrected to the same coordinates and output. Coordinate correction is performed when or before outputting line data. It may be performed during the search.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a CAD/CAM/CAE system that uses this method of converting plate material processing figure data. C from the host computer 1 to the data conversion means 2 that adopts this data conversion method via a communication line.
Input the AD figure data. The converted graphic output is input to the CAM means 3. The input to the data conversion means 2 may be performed via a recording medium such as a proppy disk. The CAM means 3 automatically calculates tool placement, etc. based on the graphic data input from the data conversion means 2, and
Create C data. The created NC data is input to the NC machine tool 4 via a communication line. NC machine tool 4 is
These are plate processing machines such as turret punch presses and laser processing machines.

In the data conversion means 2, as shown in FIG. 3, continuous line conversion processing (T1), return line data deletion (T2), and differentiation between outside and inside removal by input operations by the operator are performed. Instructions (T3) are given.

FIG. 1 shows details of the continuous line conversion process (T1) in FIG. Before explaining the process in the same figure step by step,
The outline of the process will be explained with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12.

Assume that the data of the CAD figure shown in FIG. 9A is input, and the line data D1 to D8 of each side are arranged in the order shown in FIG. As shown in the order of line data D1 to D8 added to each line in FIG. 9A, the line data is arranged irregularly and not in the order of connection. The arrangement of such line data D1 to D8 is rearranged in the order of connection as shown in FIG. 9(B) and output.

When rearranging, line data that can be connected is searched for and a connection flag is set between the line data, as shown in FIG. 10, in which the line data are connected by a connection display curve. After that, when outputting the line data, it is output in the order of connection according to the connection flag.

The internal data structure of each line data is as shown in FIG. 10, for example. In the case of a straight line, it has a starting point coordinate data part d11 and an ending point coordinate data part d12, like the line data D1. In the case of a circular arc, line data D2
It has a starting point coordinate data part d21, an end point coordinate data part d22, and a central angle data part d23, as shown in FIG.

Note that in the examples of FIGS. 9 and 10, only the line data of one closed figure was explained, but normally, the line data of each line forming a large number of closed figures and the line data of a single line are input at the same time in random order. be done. In that case, line data is continuously output for each closed figure.

In the process of searching for connectable line data,
It is determined that connection is possible not only when the coordinates of the end points match, but also when the end points O and P are slightly apart, as shown in FIG. 7(B) and FIG. 8(B). When outputting line data, the coordinates of lines separated in this manner are corrected and output as shown in FIGS. 7(C) and 8(C).

When searching for the line data, the search range is limited to a narrowing range B as shown in FIG. 12 as a preprocess. This restriction will be explained later.

The details of the flowchart in FIG. 1 will be explained. In the same figure (
A) shows the entire continuous line conversion process, and FIG. 1B shows details of step U5 in FIG. 1(A). In FIG. 1(A), first, CAD data is input from the host computer 1 (U
1). This CAD data is the entire data of a figure punched out of a perforated plate material as shown in FIG. 19, for example, and consists of a line data group including an outer punch line and a large number of inner punch lines. Further, this CAD data is graphic data drawn using a general automatic drafting system or the like.

Among the input line data, all circle data is output as is without any processing (U2). This is because in the case of a circle, no inconvenience occurs when creating NC data. After this, the search process (Q1) begins. Search process (
Q1) consists of a search range narrowing process (Q11) and a search main processing process (Q12).

After setting the initial value of variable I to 1 (U3)
In the search range narrowing step (Q11), the search range is narrowed down (U4). This narrowing down is performed by setting the search narrowing range to a range of X±α based on the X coordinate of the end point of the I-th element (line data), and searching for elements with end points within this range from I+1 to N-th. Element (line data)
This is done by extracting from among. N is a value obtained by subtracting the number of circle data from the number of all input line data.

Taking FIG. 12 as an example, the I-th (
If the X coordinate of the end point O1 of the line segment L3 indicated by the element (line data) D3 of the third element (in the figure) is Xa, then Xa±
The range B of α becomes the search narrowing range. The value of α is arbitrarily set in advance. An end point P within this search narrowing range B
The element with the X coordinate of is extracted. In the example shown in the figure, the elements of line segments L2 and L4 are elements within this range B. However, line segment L2 is excluded because it is an element before the I-th element, and only line segment L4 is extracted. The reason why elements before the I-th element are excluded is that the connection permission determination process has already been completed. Such setting of narrowing down B and element extraction are performed in the same manner as described above for the other end point O2 of the line segment L3.

Elements are extracted by, for example, transferring the element index (line data number) to the extracted element storage area and arranging it. Note that although the search range is narrowed down based on the X coordinate in this embodiment, it may also be narrowed down based on the Y coordinate. Furthermore, when extracting elements, connected elements are also excluded. For example, if the I+1st element is already connected, the next I
+Proceed to extraction judgment for the second element.

In the main search process (Q12), elements that can be connected are checked for the extracted elements, and a connection flag is set (U5). The details of this step will be explained according to FIG. 1(B). First, initialize variable H to 1 (V1),
Check whether there is an element that can be connected to the Hth element (line data) and the elements from H+1 to Mth (V2
). M is the number of extracted data. At this time, for example, as shown in the enlarged view of the corner 6 of the closed figure 5 shown in FIG. 7(A) in FIG. 7(B), a straight line L indicated by the I-th line data
Even if the end point O of I and the end point P of the straight line LI+a indicated by the I+a-th line data are far apart, if the end point P is within the proximity range W of the diameter D centered on the end point O, it is a connected element. shall be. The diameter D is set arbitrarily. Further, the proximity range W does not necessarily have to be circular, and may be square or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B), even when the line data is data showing curves LJ, LJ+a such as circular arcs, there is an end point P in the proximity range W of the diameter D, as in the case of a straight line. If there is, it is considered a connected element. The same applies to the connection between a straight line and a curved line.

In this way, the presence or absence of connectable elements is determined by searching for connectable elements (V3), and if there is a connectable element, a connection flag is set between the H-th element and that element (
V4). Note that the search for the presence or absence of a connected element (V2) is performed for both end points of one line segment, and if a connected element is found at either end point, a connection flag is set.

The connection flag is provided in a table set corresponding to each line data, or in a flag area added to a part of the line data. Further, the connection flag may be, for example, a symbol attached between mutually connected line data, or data indicating the address of the line data to be connected.

After setting the connection flag, variable H is incremented (V5). Furthermore, if it is determined that there is no connected element in the process (V3) of determining the presence or absence of a connected element, the variable H is incremented without setting the connection flag. In this way, the operation of searching for the presence or absence of a connected element and setting a connection flag (V2 to V6) is repeated until the variable H matches the variable M, that is, until there is no more extracted data.

In FIG. 1A, when the search for connected elements for the extracted elements (U5) is completed, the variable I is incremented (U6). In this way, the search process (Q1) extracts elements (U4) and searches for connected elements within the extracted elements (U5) until the variable I matches N, that is, from the first line data to the last line data. Repeat.

When the search process (Q1) is completed, the output process (
Moving to Q2), continuous line data is output according to the connection flag (U8). This continuous line output process (U8) is shown in Figure 4.
As outlined in , there is a process (S1) that outputs all line data (single lines) in which the end points on the start point side and the end point side of the line data are not connected, and a process (S1) that outputs all line data (single lines) in which the end points on the start point side and the end point side are not connected. The process of outputting data (continuous lines of open shapes) (
S2) and the process of outputting the remaining data (closed figure) (S2)
3).

In the process of step S1, assuming that the line data connection result is as shown in FIG. 11, only the line data D102 is output.

FIG. 5 shows details of step S2 in FIG. First, the variable J is initialized to 1 (S21), and it is determined whether or not the condition that "the end point on the end point side of the J-th line data DJ is connected and the end point on the start point side is not connected" is satisfied. (S22). In the example of FIG. 11, line data D105 satisfies this condition. When this condition is satisfied, the line data DJ is outputted (S25), and then the line data connected from the line data DJ is outputted (S26). Furthermore, the line data connected to the output line data are output in the order of connection according to the connection flag until the connection is broken (S27). In the example of Figure 11,
Only line data D105 and D107 are output.

After outputting until the connection is broken, variable J is incremented. Further, the condition determination step (S2
Even if the condition 2) is not satisfied, variable J is incremented. In this way, line data that is a continuous line of the open figure is output until the variable J exceeds the number N of line data, that is, from the first line data to the last line data.

FIG. 6 shows details of the closed figure output (S3) in FIG. 4. First, a variable K is initialized to 1 (S31), and it is determined whether the Kth line data DK has been output processed (S32). If not yet, the line data DK is output (S35). Since the unoutputted line data is only the line data of closed figures, there is always line data connected to the line data DK. The connected line data is output (S36), and further line data is output in the connection order according to the connection flag until the connection returns to the original K-th line data DK (S37). When the output for one closed figure is finished,
The process returns to the step of initializing the variable K to 1 again (S31). In the process of determining whether the output has been completed (S32), if the output has been completed, the variable K is incremented, and the output determination (S32) is repeated until the variable K exceeds the number N of line data. When all the line data are output, the variable K exceeds the number N of line data, and the process ends. According to the data in FIG. 11, line data D101, D103, D104,
D106 is sequentially output as one closed figure, and line data D108, D109, and D110 are sequentially output as other closed figures. In this way, continuous line data of open figures and closed figures are output in consecutive order.

[0047] Coordinate correction will be explained. When outputting a continuous line, when outputting line data connected to the previous line data, the coordinates of the end point on the connection side of the line data are made to match the coordinates of the end point of the previous line data. To explain using the example of FIG. 7(B), let the coordinates of the end point P of the straight line LI+a be the coordinates of the end point O. In this way, a continuous line is formed as shown in FIG. 7(C). Therefore, strictly speaking, the straight line LI+a is an inclined straight line, but since it is a very minute inclination, there is no support for machining. In the case of the circular arc in FIG. 8(B), the coordinates are made to coincide with the end point O, as in the case of a straight line, and a continuous line is formed as in FIG. 8(C). In the case of a circular arc, the radius will change very slightly as a result of this coordinate correction.

When outputting a continuous line, each line data may be output as is for each straight line or circular arc, or the point O, which is the corrected coordinates in FIGS. 7(B) and 8(B), may be output as is. It may also be output as one continuous line data with points.

Next, the folding line data deletion process (
T2) will be explained with reference to FIG. After the continuous line conversion process, the external angle θ (FIG. 13(C)) is checked for each connection end point of all the output line data. If there are points p1 and p2 where the external angle is 180° as shown in FIG. 13(B), or a point p3 where the external angle is 0° as shown in FIG. 13(D), each point p1
~Excluding p3. As a result, if there is a folding line L as shown in Figure 13(B) or multiple lines lined up in a straight line as shown in Figure 13(D), one line L as shown in Figure 13(E) is converted to straight line data, and the folding line L and unnecessary intermediate point p3 are
is removed. In other words, 1 from the beginning as shown in the same figure (A).
The result is the same as if a long book line were input.

[0050] The outer/inner cut distinction instruction (T3) in Fig. 3 will be explained. To explain using the example of FIG. 19, the closed figure L1 on the outer periphery is a line for outer punching in punching or the like, and each of the other closed figures L2 to L4 is a line for inner punching. This distinction between outer removal and inner removal is made by inputting instructions from the operator. After the continuous line conversion process T1 (FIG. 3), the line data is arranged for each closed figure, or one
It exists as two continuous line data. Therefore, by preparing a table showing the distinction between outside and inside cuts for each closed figure, the distinction can be made by the operator's input.

According to this method of converting sheet material processing figure data, line data that is not arranged in the order of connection can be rearranged and output in the order of connection, and even if the line data is inaccurate and the connection end points are far apart, it can be output continuously. It can be output as a line. Additionally, if extra data is included, such as line data on a straight line or line data for folded lines, this can be deleted and output. Furthermore, it is possible to distinguish between outside and inside cuts for closed figures. Therefore, a CAD figure created with a CAD system for automatic drafting can be used as data for creating a machining program for an NC machine tool by just inputting it once. Therefore, there is no need for the operator to re-input graphic data, which greatly reduces the operator's work and eliminates the problem of erroneous input.

[0052] Also, as mentioned above, the end point O (FIGS. 7 and 8)
Since the end points P within a predetermined proximity range W are corrected to the same coordinates and made into a continuous line, even when input from a CAD system with a different graphical representation format, it is accurate regardless of the error caused by the conversion of the representation format. It can be output as a continuous line. In this way, since data can be directly converted from CAD systems with different graphic representation formats, there is no problem of conversion errors accumulating due to repeated conversion operations.

Furthermore, according to this method of converting sheet material processing figure data, in the search process (Q1), the search range is narrowed down as a preprocess (Q11) to reduce the number of line data to be searched, so the search time is shortened. Ru. Although line data extraction time is required in the narrowing down process (Q11), line data extraction (U4) only needs to compare coordinate values in one coordinate axis direction as described above, so it is not necessary to extract the line data (U4). This can be done in a shorter time than the line data search (V2). Therefore, when there is a large amount of line data, the total time required for searching is significantly reduced even if the line data extraction time is added.

The processing time of this embodiment will be explained in comparison with the case of directly searching for connected elements without narrowing down the search range. That is, it is compared with the case of searching by the method shown in steps R3 to R8 of FIG.

[0055] In either processing method, a flag check step to determine whether the connection has been completed and a distance calculation step to determine whether the device is within a close range are required. Since the time required for one search in both stages is significantly different, a comparison will be made for each stage.

(a) Stage of flag check When searching directly as in the comparative example in Figure 14, if the number of line segments is N, each line segment has two endpoints, so the number of searches is 2N on average. This is considered to be (2N-2) times. In this case, since it is necessary to check whether connected data is also connected, calculations are made assuming that all other points are searched each time. The term "-2" in parentheses in the calculation formula means that the number of points on the opposite side of the line segment where the check point and that point are located is excluded from the total number of data. In this example (Fig. 1), N
The number of searches when extracting n line segments from a book is N・N/
n times, the number of searches for connectivity among n books is 2n (2n-
2) times. Comparing a numerical example, if there are 1000 line segments, the conventional method would calculate 2 x 1000 (2 x 1000 -
2) = 3,996,000 (times). In the method of this embodiment, assuming that the number of samples to be extracted is 100, 1000 x 1000/100 + 2 x 100 (2 x 1
00-2) = 49,600 (times).

(b) Distance calculation step In the conventional method, the first search is performed 2N-2 times, the second search is performed 2N-4 times, and the total number of searches until the end is N2-N times. . Comparing numerical examples, if there are 1000 line segments, in the conventional method, 10002-1000=999,00
0 (times). In this example, assuming that the number of extracted lines is 100, 1
000/100 × (1002 -100) = 99,
000 (times). In this way, this embodiment requires significantly fewer searches at both stages of flag checking and distance calculation.

In the above embodiment, when correcting the coordinates, the coordinates of the end point O of one line data are made to match the coordinates of the end point P of the other line data, but both of these end points O and P are The coordinates may be corrected to the intermediate point or the like. Further, although the above embodiments have been described with respect to cases of only straight lines, arcs, and circles, the present invention can also be applied to cases of various line data such as a part of an ellipse or a specific open figure.

[0059]

[Effects of the Invention] The method for converting plate material processing figure data of the present invention searches for connectable line data for each line data of an input figure, sets a connection flag, and outputs these line data in the order of connection according to the connection flag. , it is possible to output out-of-order line data in the order of connections.

Furthermore, during the search, line data having an end point within a predetermined proximity range from the coordinates of the end point of the line data is determined to be connectable line data, and then the coordinates of the corresponding nearby end points are set to the same coordinates. Since the line data is corrected and output, even if the accuracy of the line data of the input figure is poor and the coordinates of the end points to be connected are slightly different, it can be output as an accurate continuous line. Even if the coordinates of the end points are shifted due to an error caused by the conversion of the graphic representation format, it is possible to output an accurate continuous line as described above.

[0061] In this way, the connection part will not come apart,
In addition, each line data of a continuous line can be converted into graphic data arranged in the order of connection, and can be converted into graphic data with a structure that makes it easy to create NC data.

Furthermore, according to this method, when searching for connectable line data, the search range is narrowed down as preprocessing and the number of line data to be searched is reduced, so the search time is shortened and the conversion process is The effect is that it can be done at high speed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(A) is a flowchart of a continuous line conversion processing process in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(B) is a flowchart showing details of step U5 in the same flowchart.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a system to which the data conversion method of the embodiment is applied.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of the operation of the data conversion means in the same conceptual diagram.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing details of continuous line output processing in the flowchart of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of step S2 in the flowchart of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of step S3 in the flowchart of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of coordinate correction of connection end points in the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of coordinate correction for the same circular arc.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the line data rearrangement operation.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an example of line data arrangement in the same rearrangement operation.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of another example of line data arrangement in the same sorting operation.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a search narrowing range.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of folding line data deletion in the same embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a comparative proposal example of a method of converting figure data for plate processing.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a line data arrangement in a conventional CAD figure.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing how connection end points are separated in the same CAD figure.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the end points of the CAD figure are separated from each other in the case of a circular arc.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing differences in graphic expression formats between CAD systems.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing outer and inner drawing lines of a CAD figure.

[Explanation of symbols]

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: For each line data of an input figure consisting of a group of line data indicating a figure element, search for line data whose end point is within a predetermined proximity range from the coordinates of the end point of the line data, and when found, both The method includes a step of setting a connection flag between line data, and a step of continuously outputting the line data with the connection flag set in the connection order according to the connection flag until the connection is broken or the line data returns to the line data at the start of the connection, A method for converting plate material processing figure data in which, in a search or output process, the coordinates of adjacent end points of corresponding line data with a connection flag set are corrected to the same coordinates, wherein the search process includes converting the line data for each line data. A process of setting a search narrowing range based on the coordinates of the end points of and extracting line data having end points within this range, and a search main processing process of searching for line data in the proximate range among the extracted line data. A conversion method for plate processing figure data.