Machining method, machining device, and program

Abstract

To suitably perform machining on a rear side surface of a workpiece by using a machining device.SOLUTION: Provided is a machining method in which a cutting device 16, which is a machining device, is used to perform machining, wherein the machining method comprises a data correction step for correcting machining data that indicates a machining position, and a position reference mark is drawn on a front side surface of a workpiece 50. The cutting device 16 comprises a machining tool and a workpiece holding part. In the data correction step, performed are: data preparation processing for preparing machining data; position relation acquisition processing for acquiring a position relation between the position of any corner of the workpiece 50 and the position of the position reference mark on a front surface side of the workpiece 50; rear side surface corner position detection processing for detecting corner positions of the workpiece 50 on the rear side surface of the workpiece 50; and correction data generation processing for generating correction data obtained by correcting the machining data on the basis of the position relation acquired in the position relation acquisition processing and the corner position detected in the rear side surface corner position detection processing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a processing method, a processing apparatus, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, cutting devices that use a cutter to process a workpiece have been widely used (for example, see Patent Document 1). In such cutting devices, for example, the cutter is moved by vector operation based on cutting data indicating a processing position to process the workpiece. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Patent No. 7,140,283 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When processing a workpiece using a cutting device, a mark such as a registration mark drawn on the workpiece may be used as a reference for position. For example, when processing a workpiece on which an image is printed using a cutting device, a registration mark indicating the position of the image may be printed on the workpiece together with the image, and processing may be performed to match the position of the image. Depending on the purpose of processing the workpiece, it may be desirable to perform processing using a cutter on the back side of the workpiece, which is the side opposite to the side on which the registration marks are drawn (front side). For example, when processing (post-processing) a workpiece on which an image and registration marks are printed using a cutting device, if processing is performed using a cutter on the printed side on which the image is printed, the processed area may be noticeable depending on the material of the workpiece and the cutting conditions, and the aesthetics of the printed side (cutting surface) may be reduced. In addition, when processing (V-cutting) to form a groove to be used as a fold, for example, it may be necessary to process the back side of the workpiece. However, when processing the back side of the workpiece, registration marks cannot be seen from the back side of the workpiece, making it difficult to align the image on the front side, for example.

[0005] In this regard, for example, by using a method of making a cut from the front side of the workpiece and penetrating an identifiable member of a predetermined shape, this member can be used instead of a register mark in a state where it can be identified from the back side. Also, for example, by carving out the position of the register mark or the like on the front side of the workpiece in a predetermined shape, it is possible to turn the workpiece upside down and view the table or the like below through the through hole, and to grasp the position of the register mark or the like from the back side. However, when using such a method, additional processing work is required for the workpiece, and it is considered that the effort required for alignment will increase significantly. In addition, in this case, for example, it is possible that the accuracy of processing will vary greatly depending on the worker who performs the additional processing, and the accuracy of processing will decrease due to changes over time in the condition of the processing tool used for the additional processing (condition of the cutter blade, etc.). In addition, it can be considered that the above problem will occur in the same way when, for example, a processing device that performs processing with a processing tool other than a cutter is used. For this reason, it has been desired to perform processing on the back side of the workpiece more appropriately. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a processing method, a processing device, and a program that can solve the above problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The inventor of the present application has conducted intensive research into a method for processing the back side of a workpiece having a mark such as a register mark drawn on the front side by a processing device such as a cutting device. The inventor then considered performing processing on the back side by utilizing the result of reading the position of the register mark on the front side of the workpiece. More specifically, as such a method, for example, the positional relationship between the position of any corner (corner part) of the workpiece and the register mark on the front side of the workpiece is acquired, and this positional relationship is used when processing the back side. In this case, for example, after acquiring this positional relationship, the position of the corner of the workpiece is detected again in a state in which the workpiece is turned over, and the position for processing the back side is determined based on this detection result and the above-mentioned positional relationship. With this configuration, for example, the register mark drawn on the front side of the workpiece can be used to more appropriately process the back side of the workpiece. The inventor of the present application has also conducted further intensive research and found the necessary features for obtaining such an effect, and has arrived at the present invention.

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a processing method for processing a workpiece using a processing device equipped with a processing tool, the method comprising: a data correction step of correcting processing data, which is data indicating a processing position where processing is performed on the workpiece using the processing tool; and a processing step of having the processing device perform processing on the workpiece. A position reference mark serving as a position reference is drawn on one side, i.e., the front side, of the workpiece, and the processing device is a device that performs processing on the workpiece by moving the processing tool relatively to the workpiece by vector operation, and is equipped with the processing tool and a workpiece holding unit that holds the workpiece at a position opposite to the processing tool. In the data correction step, a process of preparing the processing data is performed, the data preparation process is performed to prepare the processing data indicating the processing position based on a position corresponding to the position reference mark; The method is characterized in that a positional relationship acquisition process is performed to acquire a positional relationship between the position of any corner of the work and the position of the position reference mark drawn on the front side of the work, with the work being placed on the work holding section facing a processing tool; a back side corner position detection process is performed to detect the position of the corner of the work being placed on the work holding section with the back side, which is the side of the work opposite the front side, facing the processing tool; and a correction data generation process is performed to generate correction data, which is data obtained by correcting the processing data, based on the positional relationship acquired in the positional relationship acquisition process and the corner position detected in the back side corner position detection process.In the processing stage, with the work being placed on the work holding section with the back side of the work facing the processing tool, the processing device is caused to process the work based on the correction data.

[0008] In this configuration, for example, the positional relationship between at least one corner of the workpiece and the position reference mark drawn on the front side of the workpiece can be appropriately acquired. In this case, by detecting the position of the corner on the back side of the workpiece as well, for example, the machining data can be appropriately corrected based on this positional relationship and the corner position detected on the back side. Also, based on the correction data obtained by correcting the machining data, for example, machining of the back side of the workpiece can be appropriately performed.

[0009] In this configuration, it is possible to use various known processing tools such as a pen unit, a tangential processing tool, a router processing tool, etc., as the processing tool. In addition, when various cutters are used as processing tools in the processing device, the processing device can be considered to be, for example, a cutting device equipped with a cutter. In addition, the cutting device can be considered to be, for example, a processing device that processes a workpiece using a cutter.

[0010] In this configuration, the position reference mark can be, for example, a mark that is the same as or similar to a known register mark. The correction of the processing data performed in the correction data generation process can be considered, for example, as an adjustment in accordance with the inversion of the workpiece. More specifically, the correction of the processing data can be, for example, inversion of the data in accordance with the inversion of the workpiece, or offset processing as necessary. In this configuration, the workpiece can be, for example, a workpiece with an image further drawn on its front side. In this case, an image is further drawn on the workpiece at a position whose relative position with respect to the position reference mark is known. In this case, the data preparation process prepares processing data indicating a processing position when processing is performed from the front side of the workpiece in accordance with the position of the image drawn on the front side of the workpiece. Then, in the correction data generation process, for example, correction is performed on the processing data to generate correction data indicating a processing position when processing is performed from the back side of the workpiece in accordance with the position of the image drawn on the front side of the workpiece. With this configuration, for example, the back side of a workpiece with an image drawn on the front side can be appropriately processed. Here, the surface on which the position reference marks are drawn is referred to as the “front side,” and the surface to be processed is referred to as the “back side.” For example, even if the surface is actually used as the front side after processing is completed, if the actual surface has a complex pattern or is a dark color, making it difficult to recognize the position reference marks on the front side, it is possible to draw the position reference marks on the actual back side to make it the “front side” for processing.

[0011] In this configuration, for example, a member having a rectangular main surface may be used as the workpiece. In the positional relationship acquisition process, for example, the positional relationship of only one corner of the workpiece relative to the position of the position reference mark may be acquired. In this case, the backside corner position detection process detects the position of one corner corresponding to the corner whose positional relationship is acquired in the positional relationship acquisition process. With this configuration, the required man-hours can be significantly reduced compared to, for example, acquiring the positional relationship of multiple corners. This also allows, for example, machining of the workpiece to be performed in a shorter time. Depending on the accuracy required for machining, for example, the positional relationship of multiple corners of the workpiece relative to the position of the position reference mark may be acquired. With this configuration, for example, machining of the workpiece can be performed with higher accuracy.

[0012] In addition, in the data correction stage, for example, a side detection process may be further performed to detect the orientation of any side of the workpiece. In this case, in the correction data generation process, for example, a correction is made to the machining data further based on the orientation of the side detected in the side detection process. With this configuration, for example, the correction of the machining data can be performed with higher accuracy. This also makes it possible to perform machining of the workpiece with higher accuracy. Furthermore, in this case, by further performing the side detection process, for example, even when the above-mentioned positional relationship is obtained for only one corner of the workpiece, the correction of the machining data can be more appropriately performed.

[0013] In this configuration, the positional relationship acquisition process sets an origin position that is a reference position for processing based on the processing data, for example, based on the position of the position reference mark. In this case, the correction data generation process performs a backside reference position setting process that sets a position corresponding to the origin position on the backside of the workpiece to a reference position that is a reference position on the backside, based on the positional relationship acquired in the positional relationship acquisition process and the corner position detected in the backside corner position detection process, an inversion process that inverts the processing position indicated by the processing data in response to the inversion of the front and back of the workpiece, and a position adjustment process that adjusts the position of the inverted processing position to match the backside reference position. With this configuration, for example, correction data used for processing the backside of the workpiece can be appropriately generated.

[0014] In this configuration, the processing device further includes, for example, a camera that captures an image of the surface of the workpiece facing the processing tool. In this case, in the positional relationship acquisition process, for example, the positional relationship is acquired based on an image of at least a part of the front side of the workpiece captured by the camera. In the back side corner position detection process, for example, the position of the corner is detected based on an image of at least a part of the back side of the workpiece captured by the camera. With this configuration, for example, the operations of the positional relationship acquisition process and the back side corner position detection process can be appropriately performed. In this configuration, in the data correction stage, for example, an inversion designation information acquisition process may be further performed to acquire inversion designation information that designates how to invert the workpiece. In this case, the inversion designation information is, for example, information that designates either up-down inversion or left-right inversion regarding the inversion method when inverting the workpiece from an orientation in which the front side of the workpiece faces the processing tool to an orientation in which the back side of the workpiece faces the processing tool. In addition, in this case, in the correction data generation process, for example, correction is performed on the processing data further based on the inversion designation information acquired in the inversion designation information acquisition process. With this configuration, for example, the machining data can be appropriately corrected in accordance with the way the workpiece is turned over.

[0015] In this configuration, a mark known as a position reference mark can be preferably used as the position reference mark. The mark known as a position reference mark can be, for example, a mark that is set in advance as a position reference mark in the processing device. As such a mark, for example, a prepared register mark can be preferably used. In addition, it is also possible to use an arbitrary mark designated by a user such as an operator who performs processing as the position reference mark. In this case, for example, a process of having the user designate the position of the mark used as the position reference mark, or a process of having the user designate the position where the position reference mark is drawn on the workpiece, etc., can be performed to use an arbitrary mark as the position reference mark. More specifically, in this case, for example, in the correction stage, a mark position designation process is further performed to designate the position of the mark used as the position reference mark by the user's operation on the computer. In addition, in the mark position designation process, for example, an operation of designating the position of the position reference mark is received from the user in a state in which the mark used as the position reference mark is displayed on the computer screen. In this case, in the positional relationship acquisition process, for example, the position of the position reference mark is acquired by receiving an operation from the user to specify the position where the position reference mark is drawn on the workpiece. With this configuration, for example, various marks can be appropriately used as the position reference mark. In addition, as a configuration of the present invention, it is also possible to use a processing device, a program, etc. having the same characteristics as above. In these cases, for example, the same effects as above can be obtained. Effect of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, for example, processing of the back side surface of a workpiece can be appropriately performed using a processing device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1]1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a processing system 10 that executes a processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1A shows an example of the configuration of the processing system 10. Fig. 1B shows an example of the configuration of a cutting device 16 in the processing system 10. [Diagram 2] 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating examples of registration marks and images printed on a workpiece 50. Fig. 2A shows various examples of registration marks 202 printed on a workpiece 50. Fig. 2B shows an example of registration marks 202 and an image 204 printed on a workpiece 50. Fig. 2C shows another example of registration marks 202 and an image 204 printed on a workpiece 50. [Diagram 3] 3A shows an example of a screen for setting the conditions for processing to be performed by the cutting device 16. Fig. 3(a) shows an example of a display screen 400 displayed on the screen of the control device 12. Fig. 3(b) shows an example of the display contents in a setting area 404 on the display screen 400. [Figure 4] 4A and 4B are diagrams showing an example of the relationship between the method of inverting the workpiece 50 and the cut origin 302, etc. Fig. 4(a) shows an example of the cut origin 302 set for the workpiece 50. Fig. 4(b) shows an example of inverting the workpiece 50 upside down. Fig. 4(c) shows an example of inverting the workpiece 50 left to right. [Diagram 5] 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating inversion and offset processing performed on cut data. Fig. 5A is a diagram illustrating cut data before correction. Fig. 5B shows an example of inversion processing performed on cut data. Fig. 5C shows an example of offset processing performed on cut data. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the cutting device 16. [Figure 7] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a control operation performed by the control device 12 on the cutting device 16. [Figure 8] 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating modified examples of marks used as position reference marks, and images and marks drawn on the workpiece 50. Fig. 8A shows an example of an image 204 drawn on the workpiece 50. Fig. 8B shows an example of a mark added by image drawing software. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example in which at least a part of the mark 312 is used as a position reference mark. [Figure 10] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of using a position reference mark designated by a user. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a processing system 10 that executes a processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1(a) shows an example of the configuration of the processing system 10. FIG. 1(b) shows an example of the configuration of a cutting device 16 in the processing system 10. The processing method executed in the processing system 10 is an example of a method of processing a workpiece 50 using a processing device such as the cutting device 16.

[0019] In this example, the processing system 10 is a system that processes a workpiece 50, which is an object of processing, using a processing tool such as a cutter, and includes a control device 12, a printing device 14, and a cutting device 16. In this case, the workpiece 50 is, for example, a material that is the same as or similar to a workpiece that can be processed by a known cutting device as a processing device. More specifically, for example, a plate-shaped or sheet-shaped material with a certain thickness can be used as the workpiece 50. In addition, for example, a material with a rectangular (rectangular) main surface can be suitably used as the workpiece 50. In this case, the workpiece 50 can be considered to be, for example, a material with a shape in which the corners (corners) are right angles (90 degrees). In addition, except for the points described below, the processing system 10 and each of its components may have the same or similar characteristics as a known processing system and each of its components. In addition, as shown in the figure, in this example, each of the components of the processing system 10 is connected to each other via a network 20. In this case, the network 20 is, for example, a LAN or the Internet. This also allows each component of the processing system 10 to communicate with each other via the network 20.

[0020] The control device 12 is a device that controls other components in the processing system 10, and controls the operation of the printing device 14 and the cutting device 16 by transmitting and receiving data, commands, and the like via the network 20. As the control device 12, for example, a computer (such as a PC) that executes a predetermined program can be suitably used. More specifically, in this example, the control device 12 controls the operation of the printing device 14 according to a program that controls the operation of the printing device 14. Also, the control device 12 controls the operation of the cutting device 16 according to a program that controls the operation of the cutting device 16. In this case, the control device 12 controls the operation of the printing device 14, for example, by supplying print data indicating an image to be printed in the printing device 14 to the printing device 14. Also, the control device 12 controls the operation of the cutting device 16, for example, by supplying cut data to the cutting device 16. In this case, the cut data can be considered to be, for example, data indicating a processing position where processing is performed on the workpiece 50 using a cutter. Also, in this example, the cut data is an example of processing data. The processing data can be considered to be, for example, data indicating a processing position where processing is performed on the workpiece 50 using a processing tool. In this example, the control device 12 further executes a camera application, which is a program for controlling the camera in the cutting device 16, in relation to the control of the cutting device 16. The control performed by the control device 12 over the cutting device 16 will be described in more detail later.

[0021] The printing device 14 is a device that performs printing in the processing system 10. For example, a known inkjet printer or the like can be suitably used as the printing device 14. In this example, the printing device 14 prints on the workpiece 50 before processing by the cutting device 16. In this case, the workpiece 50 can also be considered as a medium to be printed by the printing device 14. In addition, the printing device 14 prints at least a registration mark on one side of the workpiece 50, which is the front side, based on the printing data supplied from the control device 12, for example. In this case, the registration mark is an example of a position reference mark that serves as a reference for the position. In this example, the registration mark drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50 serves as a reference for the position during processing by the cutting device 16. In this example, the printing device 14 further prints an image on the front side of the workpiece 50. In this case, it can be considered that the image drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50 is drawn at a known position relative to the registration mark, for example. In this case, the register marks 202 can also be considered to indicate, for example, the position of an image on the workpiece 50. The register marks and images printed on the workpiece 50 will also be described in more detail later.

[0022] The cutting device 16 is a processing device that performs processing on the workpiece 50 in the processing system 10. In this example, the cutting device 16 is a flatbed type cutting plotter that performs processing on the workpiece 50 based on cutting data supplied from the control device 12, and has a head unit 102, a table 104, a head drive unit 106, an operation unit 108, and a control unit 110. The head unit 102 is configured to hold processing tools and the like used in the processing system 10. In this example, the head unit 102 has a cutter 122 and a camera 124. In this case, the head unit 102 holds these components, for example, by a carriage not shown. The cutter 122 is an example of a processing tool, and is held by the head unit 102 in the same or similar manner as a cutter in a known cutting device. In this example, the cutter 122 is attached to the head unit 102 as one of the replaceable processing tools. In this case, the cutter 122 can be attached to the head unit 102, which can be considered to correspond to, for example, the cutting device 16 being provided with the cutter 122. In addition, in this case, the cutter 122 in the head unit 102 may be replaceable with another processing tool. Also, the head unit 102 may hold a plurality of processing tools. In this case, the head unit 102 may further hold, for example, a processing tool other than the cutter 122 together with the cutter 122. As the processing tool other than the cutter 122, for example, a pen or a drill (drill bit) may be used. The camera 124 is an image acquisition means for acquiring an image of the workpiece 50, and is disposed at a position opposite the workpiece 50 together with the cutter 122 to capture an image of the surface of the workpiece 50 opposite the cutter 122. Also, the camera 124 is, for example, a camera for capturing an image of a part of the workpiece 50, and is moved in response to an operation of the operator (user) on the cutting device 16 to acquire an image showing a part of the workpiece 50 at that position. More specifically, in this case, for example, it is possible to use the camera 124 to read the register marks on the workpiece 50. Furthermore, in this example, the camera 124 is further used to detect the positions of the corners (corners, angular portions) of the workpiece 50.These operations performed using the camera 124 will also be described in more detail below.

[0023] The table 104 is a platform-like member that holds the workpiece 50 facing the head unit 102. In this case, the workpiece 50 facing the head unit 102 can be considered to be facing the workpiece 50 to a processing tool (such as a cutter 122) in the head unit 102, for example. In this example, the table 104 is an example of a workpiece holder. The table 104 can also be considered to be a table on which the workpiece 50 is placed in a flatbed-type cutting device 16. The head drive unit 106 is a drive unit that moves the head unit 102 relative to the workpiece 50. In this example, the head drive unit 106 moves the head unit 102 in the X direction and the Y direction shown in the figure, thereby moving the head unit 102 relative to the workpiece 50. In this case, the head drive unit 106 moves the head unit 102 along a linear path such as an arbitrary curve or a straight line in an arbitrary direction by vector operation (vector scanning), for example, in the same or similar manner as a known cutting device. In this case, moving the head unit 102 along an arbitrary curve or the like can be considered to be, for example, moving the head unit 102 along an arbitrary curve or the like with a precision according to the configuration of the cutting device 16. As a result, in this example, the cutting device 16 performs processing on the workpiece 50 by vector operation. Processing by vector operation can be considered to be, for example, processing on the workpiece 50 while moving a processing tool along a linear path relative to the workpiece 50. The cutting device 16 may perform processing by, for example, raster operation in addition to the above-mentioned processing by vector operation.

[0024] More specifically, in the cutting device 16, the head unit 102 is held by, for example, a Y-bar member (not shown) so as to be movable in the Y direction in the figure. The Y-bar member is configured to be movable in, for example, the X direction in the figure. In this case, the head driving unit 106 moves the head unit 102 in the Y direction by moving the head unit 102 along the Y-bar member. Also, the head driving unit 106 moves the head unit 102 in the X direction together with the Y-bar member by moving the Y-bar member itself in the X direction. Then, by combining these, the head driving unit 106 moves the head unit 102, for example, along an arbitrary curve. Also, in this example, the head driving unit 106 moves the cutter 122 in the head unit 102 by moving the head unit 102. Also, the head driving unit 106 moves the head unit 102 or the cutter 122 in a direction perpendicular to the X direction and the Y direction (Z direction) as necessary. As a result, the head driving unit 106 brings the cutter 122 into contact with the workpiece 50 when machining the workpiece 50. When moving the head unit 102 without machining the workpiece 50, the head driving unit 106 separates the cutter 122 from the workpiece 50. Furthermore, in this example, the head driving unit 106 appropriately rotates the cutter 122 in accordance with, for example, the direction in which the head unit 102 is moved when machining the workpiece 50. In addition, as a result, the head driving unit 106 changes the direction of the blade of the cutter 122 in accordance with the direction of movement of the cutter 122. In addition, by these operations, in this example, the cutting device 16 moves the cutter 122 relatively to the workpiece 50 to machine the workpiece 50.

[0025] The operation unit 108 is a configuration for accepting an operation of the cutting device 16 by an operator, and accepts, for example, an instruction to make the cutting device 16 perform a predetermined operation, an operation condition setting, and the like, from the operator. More specifically, in this example, the operation unit 108 accepts a necessary operation from the operator, for example, when reading a register mark or detecting the position of a corner of the workpiece 50. The control unit 110 is a configuration including, for example, a CPU of the cutting device 16, and controls the operation of each part of the cutting device 16 according to firmware, which is a program that controls the operation of the cutting device 16. In this example, the control unit 110 also controls the operation of each part of the cutting device 16 based on the cut data supplied from the control device 12. In this case, the control unit 110 corrects the cut data as necessary, and controls the operation of each part of the cutting device 16 based on the correction data, which is the cut data after correction. An example of the operation of correcting the cut data will be described in more detail later.

[0026] With the above configuration, according to this example, for example, processing of the workpiece 50 can be performed appropriately. In a modified example of the configuration of the processing system 10, the processing system 10 may further include configurations other than those described above. In addition, the processing system 10 may include, for example, a plurality of printing devices 14 and a plurality of cutting devices 16. In addition, the control device 12 may be configured, for example, with a plurality of computers. In this case, it is possible to use, for example, a computer that controls the operation of the printing device 14 and a computer that controls the operation of the cutting device 16 as the control device 12. It is also possible to use a plurality of computers as a computer that controls the operation of one cutting device 16. In this case, for example, it is possible to use a computer that executes a camera app separately from a computer that processes the cut data.

[0027] Next, examples of the registration marks and images printed on the workpiece 50 and processing performed on the workpiece 50 will be described in more detail. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating examples of the registration marks and images printed on the workpiece 50. Fig. 2(a) shows various examples of the registration marks 202 printed on the workpiece 50. Fig. 2(b) shows one example of the registration marks 202 and an image 204 printed on the workpiece 50. Fig. 2(c) shows another example of the registration marks 202 and an image 204 printed on the workpiece 50.

[0028] As described above, in the processing system 10 (see FIG. 1), the printing device 14 prints the register marks 202 and the image 204 on the workpiece 50 to be processed by the cutting device 16 (see FIG. 1). The register marks 202 may be marks that are the same as or similar to known register marks. More specifically, the register marks 202 may be any one of the register marks 202 selected from various types of register marks 202 shown in FIG. 2(a). In FIG. 2(a), the register mark 202 on the left side is a square register mark. The register mark 202 in the center is a key register mark. The register mark 202 on the right side is a round register mark. For convenience of illustration, the center position of each register mark 202 is indicated by a white dot in FIG. 2(a). The center of the register mark 202 may be considered to be, for example, a position that is the reference (coordinate origin) of the register mark. In the actual register mark 202, the positions indicated by white dots in the figure are colored in the same way as other parts of the register mark 202. In addition, in a square register mark, the center position is the intersection point of the diagonal lines of the square. In a key register mark, the center position is the position where the center lines of the two thick lines (both sides) that make up the key intersect. In addition, in a round register mark, the center position is the center position of the circle.

[0029] In addition, when using a square register mark or a key register mark, the positions of the register marks 202 on the workpiece 50 may be set at four positions corresponding to the four vertices of a rectangle, as shown in FIG. 2(b), for example. In this case, the bounding box 212 shown by the dashed line in the figure may be considered to be a rectangular (rectangular) area having the positions of the four register marks 202 as vertices. The bounding box 212 may be considered to be, for example, a range to be processed in the workpiece 50. The bounding box 212 may be considered to be, for example, a configuration that is appropriately set to indicate a predetermined range, rather than a figure that is actually drawn on the workpiece 50. As shown in the figure, in this example, the image 204 is drawn within the bounding box 212 specified by the multiple register marks 202. In this case, as described above, the image 204 is drawn at a position where the relative position to the register marks 202 is known.

[0030] Among the register marks 202 shown in FIG. 2(a), the round register marks are an example of free register marks. The free register marks can be considered to be, for example, register marks drawn at any position on the work 50. More specifically, free register marks such as round register marks can be drawn at various positions on the work 50, for example, as shown in FIG. 2(c). In this case, the bounding box 212 is, for example, an area including all the register marks 202 and the image 204 drawn on the work 50. More specifically, when only the register marks 202 are drawn on the work 50 and the image 204 is not drawn, the bounding box 212 is the smallest area including all the register marks 202, for example, as shown on the left side of FIG. 2(c). When the register marks 202 and the image 204 are drawn on the work 50, the bounding box 212 is the smallest area including all the register marks 202 and the image 204, for example, as shown on the right side of FIG. 2(c).

[0031] Here, when the image 204 is printed on the work 50 by the printing device 14, a positional deviation occurs within a certain tolerance range in the positional relationship between the work 50 and the image 204. Therefore, in order to properly process the work 50 by the cutting device 16, it is usually necessary to detect the position where the image 204 is printed on the work 50. However, in this case, if the position of the image 204 is to be directly detected, the detection procedure may become complicated, and it may be difficult to detect with sufficient accuracy. In contrast, in this example, by detecting the position of the register mark 202 on the work 50, the position of the image 204, which is at a known position relative to the register mark 202, can also be detected with high accuracy. This also makes it possible to properly process the work 50 with high accuracy in the cutting device 16, for example.

[0032] In this example, the cutting device 16 also processes the workpiece 50 from the back side of the workpiece 50 as necessary. In this case, the back side of the workpiece 50 can be considered to be, for example, the side opposite to the front side of the workpiece 50. In this example, the back side can be considered to be, for example, the side of the workpiece 50 on which the register marks 202 and the image 204 are not drawn. In addition, the back side of the workpiece 50 can be considered to be, for example, the side on which the register marks 202 are not drawn. In this case, it is necessary to process the workpiece 50 in the cutting device 16 without being able to see the register marks 202 and the like drawn on the workpiece 50. In this case, for example, if the workpiece 50 is processed without considering the position of the register marks 202, it is usually difficult to perform processing with the required accuracy. In contrast, in this example, after detecting the position of the register marks 202 on the front side of the workpiece 50, the workpiece 50 is turned over and processing is performed from the back side of the workpiece 50. In this case, the positions of the corners of the workpiece 50 are detected in addition to the positions of the register marks 202, and the positional relationship between the positions of the register marks 202 and the positions of the corners of the workpiece 50 is acquired. Then, by using this positional relationship, machining is performed from the backside of the workpiece 50 based on the position of the register marks 202. Hereinafter, an example of the operation of machining the backside of the workpiece 50 in this manner will be described in more detail.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen for setting the conditions of processing to be performed in the cutting device 16. FIG. 3(a) shows an example of a display screen 400 displayed on the screen (monitor, etc.) of the control device 12 (see FIG. 1) when setting cutting conditions, which are an example of processing conditions. FIG. 3(b) shows an example of the display contents in the setting area 404 on the display screen 400. When processing a workpiece with the cutting device 16 of this example, the control device 12 displays a display screen 400 having a plurality of setting areas 402, 404, as shown in FIG. 3(a), for example. In this case, the setting area 402 is an area showing setting items other than items related to processing of the back side surface. In the setting area 402, the control device 12 displays, for example, items that are the same as or similar to setting items set during processing with a known cutting device. More specifically, the control device 12 displays, for example, setting items related to how to read the register marks on the front side surface of the workpiece in the setting area 402. This also causes the control device 12 to prompt the operator to confirm the setting items in the setting area 402, and, if necessary, accepts changes to the settings from the operator.

[0034] The setting area 404 is an area showing setting items related to the processing of the back side surface. In the setting area 404, the control device 12 displays setting items related to the back side cut mode setting and the edge detection method, for example, as shown in FIG. 3(b). In this case, the control device 12 further allows the operator to select, by a check box, whether or not to set the back side cut mode and the edge detection method for the setting items in the setting area 404, for example, as shown in the figure. The edge can be considered to be, for example, a part corresponding to a corner or side of the workpiece. The setting item for the edge detection method can be considered to be, for example, a setting item including the method of detecting the corner of the workpiece. More specifically, the control device 12 accepts the setting (designation) of the workpiece inversion direction from the operator in the setting item for the back side cut mode in the setting area 404. In addition, the control device 12 thereby acquires inversion designation information that designates the method of inverting the workpiece. The inversion of the workpiece can be considered to be, for example, inversion of the workpiece performed after reading the register marks on the front side surface of the workpiece and before processing the back side surface of the workpiece. Also, the inversion of the workpiece can be considered as, for example, inverting the workpiece from an orientation in which the front side of the workpiece faces the cutter in the cutting device 16 to an orientation in which the back side of the workpiece faces the cutter. In this example, the control device 12 acquires, as inversion designation information, information designating whether the workpiece should be inverted upside down or leftside to right, in response to the operator's selection.

[0035] Furthermore, in the setting area 404, the control device 12 displays setting items related to the selection of the detection corner, which is the corner of the work to be detected, and the detection method for the detection corner, as setting items related to the method of edge detection. More specifically, regarding the selection of the detection corner, the control device 12 selectively displays all corners of the work, for example, distinguishing between the upper right, the lower right, the upper left, and the lower left, and allows the worker to select any one of the corners. Furthermore, in this example, the control device 12 allows the worker to select only a corner at any one position. Then, the control device 12 further allows the worker to select, as the detection method for the detection corner, whether or not to detect sides other than the corners, and to specify the sides to be detected when detection is performed. In this case, the control device 12 allows the operator to select one of the following detection methods for the detected corners: a method of detecting edges in both the X and Y directions in addition to the corners (corner + X direction + Y direction), a method of detecting edges only in the X direction in addition to the corners (corner + X direction), a method of detecting edges only in the Y direction in addition to the corners (corner + Y direction), and a method of detecting only the corners (corner only). In this case, the detection of edges in the X direction can be considered to be, for example, detecting the orientation of the edges of the workpiece that should be parallel to the X direction in the cutting device 16. The detection of edges in the Y direction can be considered to be, for example, detecting the orientation of the edges of the workpiece that should be parallel to the Y direction in the cutting device 16.

[0036] Here, in this example, the corners and sides of the workpiece are detected using the camera 124 (see FIG. 1) in the cutting device 16. In this case, even if only the corners are detected, the inclination of the workpiece in the X and Y directions can be detected based on the image of the corner position of the workpiece. Therefore, when only the corners are detected, it is possible to detect the inclination of the workpiece based on this image. Also, when the sides in the X and Y directions are detected, the inclination of the workpiece can be detected with higher accuracy based on the image captured by the camera 124 moved to the position of the side of the workpiece. However, in this case, the number of steps performed for edge detection increases compared to the case of detecting only the corners. In contrast, according to this example, the detection method for the detected corners can be appropriately selected according to, for example, the required machining accuracy and the size of the workpiece.

[0037] As described above, in this example, the control unit 110 (see FIG. 1) of the cutting device 16 corrects the cut data as necessary, and controls the operation of each part of the cutting device 16 based on the corrected cut data. In this case, the control unit 110 corrects the cut data based on, for example, the back cut mode and the edge detection method set in the setting area 404. In this case, the cutting device 16 corrects the cut data in accordance with, for example, the workpiece inversion method, as will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0038] 4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining in more detail the correction of the cut data performed in this example, and show a simplified example of the correction of the cut data performed when processing is performed from the back side of the workpiece 50 in the cutting device 16. FIG. 4 shows an example of the relationship between the method of inverting the workpiece 50 and the cut origin 302, etc. FIG. 4(a) shows an example of the cut origin 302 set for the workpiece 50. FIG. 4(b) shows an example of inverting the workpiece 50 upside down. FIG. 4(c) shows an example of inverting the workpiece 50 left to right. In FIGS. 4(a) to (c), an example of using a key dragonfly is shown on the left, and an example of using a round dragonfly (free dragonfly) is shown on the right. Although not shown, when a square dragonfly is used, it can be considered that the same thing happens when a key dragonfly is used.

[0039] In this example, the cut origin 302 can be considered as, for example, a reference position used when processing is performed by the cutting device 16. The cut origin 302 can also be considered as, for example, an origin position that is a reference position for processing based on the cut data. In this example, the cut origin 302 is set based on the position of the register marks 202. More specifically, in this case, for example, a rectangular bounding box is set based on the position of the register marks 202, and the position of one vertex of the bounding box is set as the cut origin 302. FIG. 4(a) shows an example of the positional relationship between the register marks, the image, and the cut origin 302 for the cut data (original data) before correction is performed by the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16. When a key register mark or a square register mark is used, for example, the position of the register mark becomes the position of the vertex of the bounding box, and the position of the cut origin 302 becomes the center position of one of the register marks. For example, in the left-hand drawing of Fig. 4(a), the center position of the lower right register mark is the cut origin 302. Also, when using a free register mark such as a round register mark, a position different from the register mark position may become the cut origin 302. For example, in the right-hand drawing of Fig. 4(a), the position corresponding to the lower left vertex of the bounding box, where there is no register mark, becomes the cut origin 302. In this case, this cut origin 302 can be considered as, for example, the origin position for the free register mark.

[0040] As described above, in this example, when machining is performed from the back side of the workpiece 50, the register marks are read on the front side of the workpiece 50, the positions of the corners of the workpiece 50 are detected, and then the workpiece 50 is inverted upside down or leftside to right. In this case, the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16 calculates a new cut origin 302 for the state after the inversion of the workpiece 50, for example. Also, FIG. 4(b) shows an example of detecting the position of the lower right corner of the workpiece 50 on the front side and inverting the workpiece 50 upside down. In this case, in the state before inversion, the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16 sets the cut origin 302, for example, based on the result of reading the register marks. More specifically, in this case, the control unit 110 determines the range of the bounding box based on the positions of the register marks and the image drawn on the workpiece 50, for example. Then, the position of a predetermined vertex in the bounding box is set as the cut origin 302.

[0041] In this case, the edge detection point 304, which is the position of the corner to be detected, moves as shown in the figure with the work 50 being turned upside down. The cut origin 302 also moves as shown in the figure with the work 50 being turned upside down. In this example, the control unit 110 calculates the position of the cut origin 302 after the movement due to the turning over, and sets the position as a new cut origin 302 for the back side of the work 50. More specifically, for example, in the case shown on the left side of FIG. 4(b), the control unit 110 calculates the distance between the edge detection point 304 detected at the lower right position of the front side of the work 50 and the cut origin 302 set at the position of the lower right register mark, for the state before the work 50 is turned over. In this example, the control unit 110 further calculates the size of the bounding box (register mark size) based on the positions of the multiple register marks. Then, based on this distance, the register mark size, and the edge detection point 304 after the turning over, the cut origin 302 for the work 50 after the turning over is calculated. In this case, the edge detection point 304 after inversion can be considered to be, for example, the edge detection point 304 detected in the upper right of the back side of the workpiece 50 after the workpiece 50 is inverted. In the case shown on the right side of FIG. 4(b), the control unit 110 calculates the distance between the edge detection point 304 detected in the lower right position of the front side of the workpiece 50 and the cut origin 302 set as the origin position for the free register mark, for the state before the workpiece 50 is inverted. Also in this case, the control unit 110 further calculates the register mark size based on the positions of the multiple register marks. Then, the control unit 110 calculates the cut origin 302 for the inverted workpiece 50 based on this distance, the register mark size, and the edge detection point 304 after inversion.

[0042] As described above, in this example, the control unit 110 calculates the cut origin 302 based on the register mark size. In this case, the control unit 110 performs correction for the deviation caused by the expansion and contraction of the workpiece 50, for example, based on the register mark size. Such deviation can be considered as deviation caused by the expansion and contraction of the workpiece 50, for example, between the position in the print data used when printing on the workpiece 50 and the actual position on the workpiece 50, for example, with respect to the position of the image and the register mark. The actual position on the workpiece 50 can be considered as, for example, the positional relationship between the register mark and the image recognized by the image captured by the camera 124 in the cutting device 16. In addition, such correction based on the register mark size can be considered as, for example, correction performed on the front side of the workpiece 50 based on the register mark size. Correction based on the register mark size can be performed in the same or similar manner as correction performed in a known cutting device, for example.

[0043] In this example, the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16 further inverts the cut data in accordance with the inversion of the workpiece 50. More specifically, in this example, the control unit 110 receives, for example, cut data corresponding to the state before the workpiece 50 is inverted from the control device 12. In this case, the cut data can be considered, for example, as data indicating the processing position when processing is performed from the front side of the workpiece 50 in accordance with the position of the image drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50. In this case, the cut data can be considered, for example, as data indicating the processing position based on the cut origin 302 shown in FIG. 4(a). In contrast, in this example, the control unit 110 corrects the cut data to correspond to the inversion of the workpiece 50, thereby generating correction data indicating the processing position when processing is performed from the back side of the workpiece 50 in accordance with the position of the image drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50. In this case, the correction data can be considered, for example, as cut data adjusted in accordance with the inversion of the front and back of the workpiece 50. In this case, the correction of the cut data may be, for example, a process of inverting the data in accordance with the inversion of the workpiece 50, or an offset process as necessary. The inversion process and offset process performed on the cut data will be described in more detail later.

[0044] As described above, the workpiece 50 may be inverted not only vertically but also horizontally as shown in FIG. 4(c). In this case, the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16 sets the cut origin 302 and corrects the cut data in the same manner as described above in relation to FIG. 4(b), while appropriately making changes according to the different inversion methods. FIG. 4(c) shows an example in which the position of the lower right corner of the workpiece 50 on the front side is detected and the workpiece 50 is inverted horizontally. In this case, the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16 sets the cut origin 302 in the state before inversion, for example, in the same manner as shown in FIG. 4(b). In this case, the cut origin 302 and the edge detection point 304 move as shown in the figure with the horizontal inversion of the workpiece 50. In this case, the edge detection point 304 after inversion can be considered to be, for example, the edge detection point 304 detected at the lower left of the back side of the workpiece 50 after inversion. Moreover, after the work 50 is turned over, the control unit 110 sets a new cut origin 302 in accordance with the position of the cut origin 302 moved by the turning over. More specifically, for example, in the case shown on the left side of FIG. 4(c), the control unit 110 calculates the distance between the edge detection point 304 and the cut origin 302 for the state before the work 50 is turned over in the same manner as in the case shown on the left side of FIG. 4(b). Also, in this case, the control unit 110 further calculates the register mark size. Then, based on this distance, the register mark size, and the edge detection point 304 after the turning over, the control unit 110 calculates the cut origin 302 for the work 50 after the turning over. Also, in the case shown on the right side of FIG. 4(c), the control unit 110 calculates the distance between the edge detection point 304 and the cut origin 302 for the state before the work 50 is turned over in the same manner as in the case shown on the right side of FIG. 4(b). Also, in this case, the control unit 110 further calculates the register mark size. Then, based on this distance, the register mark size, and the edge detection point 304 after inversion, the control unit 110 calculates the cutting origin 302 for the inverted workpiece 50. Also in these cases, the control unit 110 generates correction data by correcting the cutting data in accordance with the inversion of the workpiece 50.

[0045] Next, the inversion process and offset process performed on the cut data in relation to the operation of correcting the cut data will be described in more detail. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the inversion process and offset process performed on the cut data. FIG. 5(a) is a diagram for explaining the cut data before correction. FIG. 5(b) shows an example of the inversion process performed on the cut data. FIG. 5(c) shows an example of the offset process performed on the cut data. For convenience of illustration, in FIG. 5(b) and (c), the contents indicated by the cut data are illustrated as configurations corresponding to the register marks 202 and the image 204 in FIG. 5(a). In this case, the actual cut data can be considered to be data that specifies the positions set according to the positions of these figures as the processing positions. Also, in FIG. 5(b), the corresponding figures before the inversion process are shown by dotted lines, and the figures after the inversion are shown by solid lines. In FIG. 5(c), the corresponding figures before the offset process are shown by dotted lines, and the figures after the offset process are shown by solid lines. 5(b) and (c) show examples of inversion processing and offset processing in the case where the workpiece 50 is turned upside down.

[0046] As described above, in this example, the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16 receives cut data indicating a processing position when processing is performed from the front side of the workpiece 50 from the control device 12. Such cut data can be considered to be, for example, data indicating a processing position aligned with the image 204 drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50. In this case, the control device 12 generates cut data specifying a cut command based on a cut origin set on the front side of the workpiece 50, and supplies the cut data to the cutting device 16. The cut command can be considered to be, for example, a command specifying processing to be performed in the cutting device 16. In this case, the cut data can be considered to be, for example, cut data used when the register mark 202 is drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50 (cut data with register mark), etc.

[0047] For such cut data, in this example, the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16 corrects the cut data in accordance with the way the workpiece 50 is inverted to generate corrected data. In this case, the control unit 110 inverts the cut data, for example, as shown in FIG. 5(b), and then performs offset processing as shown in FIG. 5(c). More specifically, in this example, when the workpiece 50 is inverted upside down, the control unit 110 inverts the cut data upside down with reference to one of the vertices of the bounding box as the inversion processing of the cut data. In this case, for example, it is considered that the cut data is inverted upside down with reference to the vertex of the bounding box that is the cut origin 302 on the front side of the workpiece 50. In this case, the position of the cut data after inversion will be shifted by the height of the bounding box, for example, as shown in the figure. Therefore, in this case, the control unit 110 further performs offset processing to move the cut data, for example, as shown in FIG. 5(c). Such offset processing can be considered to be, for example, a plus offset processing for the bounding box. With this configuration, for example, the cut data can be appropriately corrected in accordance with the inversion of the workpiece 50. As described above, Figs. 5(b) and (c) show examples of the inversion process and offset process when the workpiece 50 is inverted upside down. When the workpiece 50 is inverted left-right, the above operations can be appropriately changed depending on the inversion method. With this configuration, for example, even when the workpiece is inverted left-right, the cut data can be appropriately corrected in accordance with the inversion of the workpiece 50.

[0048] As described above, in this example, the control unit 110 calculates the cut origin 302 on the back side based on the register size, which is the size of the bounding box. In this case, it is also possible to perform correction based on the register size on the cut data before the inversion process. With this configuration, for example, the cut data can be appropriately corrected according to the actual positions of the register and the image on the front side of the workpiece 50. This also makes it possible to more appropriately perform the subsequent inversion process and offset process. The correction performed on the cut data before the inversion process can be performed in the same or similar manner as when the workpiece 50 is processed from the front side of the workpiece 50 in a known cutting device.

[0049] Next, an example of the operation performed by the cutting device 16 and the control device 12 in the processing system 10 of this embodiment will be described in more detail. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the cutting device 16, and shows an example of the operation performed by the cutting device 16 when processing the workpiece 50 from the back side of the workpiece 50. In this embodiment, the cutting device 16 processes the workpiece 50 from the back side of the workpiece 50 based on an instruction received from an operator via the display screen described using FIG. 3, for example, and cutting data supplied from the control device 12. In the following, for convenience of explanation, the processing performed by the control unit 110 of the cutting device 16 will be simply described as processing performed by the cutting device 16. In addition, in FIG. 6, for convenience of illustration and explanation, a flowchart is shown including the operation performed by the operator who operates the cutting device 16. The operation performed by the control device 12 in relation to the operation of the cutting device 16 described below will be described in more detail later.

[0050] In the operation of the flowchart of FIG. 6, first, the workpiece 50 is placed on the table 104 of the cutting device 16 with the front side of the workpiece 50 facing upward by a placing means such as an operator or an industrial robot (S102). In this case, the state in which the front side of the workpiece 50 faces upward can be considered to be, for example, a state in which the cutter 122, which is a processing tool of the cutting device 16, faces the front side of the workpiece 50. In this state, the cutting device 16 acquires cutting data from the control device 12 (S104). In this example, the operation of step S104 is an example of the operation of data preparation processing. The data preparation processing can be considered to be, for example, a process of preparing processing data such as cutting data. In addition, in step S104 of this example, the cutting device 16 acquires cutting data with registration marks. In this case, the cutting data with registration marks can be considered to be, for example, cutting data indicating a processing position based on the position of the registration marks drawn on the workpiece 50. Indicating the processing position based on the position of the register mark may mean indicating the processing position based on another position (for example, an origin position such as a cutting origin) that is associated with the position of the register mark. In addition, in a modified example of the operation of the cutting device 16, the operation of step S104 may be performed prior to step S102.

[0051] After acquiring the cut data, the cutting device 16 detects edges on the front side of the workpiece 50 (S106). In this case, the cutting device 16 moves the camera 124 to a predetermined corner position of the workpiece 50 in response to, for example, an operation by an operator, and captures an image of a range including the corner with the camera 124. Then, based on this image, the position of the corner of the workpiece 50 that becomes the edge detection point 304 is detected. In this case, the image captured by the camera 124 can be considered to be, for example, an image of at least a part of the front side of the workpiece 50 captured by the camera. In this example, the cutting device 16 detects edges in the X direction and edges in the Y direction as necessary based on the edge detection method specified by the operator. In this example, the cutting device 16 detects the position of the corner and the orientation of the edge of the workpiece 50 by, for example, having the control device 12 perform processing based on the image captured by the camera 124. More specifically, in this case, the cutting device 16 detects edges related to the positions of corners and the orientation of sides by, for example, having a camera application executed by the control device 12 analyze the image and acquiring the results. Also, in this case, it is conceivable to have the camera application detect the angle and the difference between the edge origin and the center of the captured image with respect to the corners of the workpiece 50 shown in the image.

[0052] After detecting the edges in step S106, the cutting device 16 detects the registration marks drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50 (S108). In this case, the cutting device 16 moves the camera 124 to the position of any one of the registration marks in response to, for example, an operation by an operator, and captures an image of the range including the registration mark with the camera 124. Then, based on this image, the position of the registration mark is detected. The cutting device 16 repeats this operation for multiple registration marks on the workpiece 50 to detect the positions of all the registration marks. More specifically, when a key registration mark or a square registration mark is used as the registration mark, in step S108, the cutting device 16 detects the positions of the four registration marks in this manner. When a free registration mark such as a round registration mark is used, in step S108, the cutting device 16 also detects the positions of all the registration marks used in this manner. Also, in this example, the cutting device 16 detects the position of the dragon marks by, for example, having the control device 12 perform processing based on an image acquired by the camera 124. More specifically, in this case, the cutting device 16 detects the position of the dragon marks by, for example, having a camera application executed by the control device 12 analyze the image and acquiring the results. Also, in this case, it is conceivable to have the camera application detect the position and angle of the dragon marks captured in the image.

[0053] In this example, the operations of steps S106 and S108 are an example of the operation of the positional relationship acquisition process. The positional relationship acquisition process can be considered as, for example, a process of acquiring the positional relationship between the position of any corner of the workpiece 50 and the position of the registration mark drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50, with the workpiece 50 placed on the table 104 with the front side of the workpiece 50 facing the processing tool (cutter 122, etc.) of the cutting device 16. In step S108 of this example, the cutting device 16 acquires the positional relationship between the position of the corner of the workpiece 50 detected in step S106 and the position of the registration mark detected in step S108. In this example, the cutting device 16 acquires the positional relationship with respect to the registration mark position for only one corner of the workpiece 50, as described as the edge detection point 304 in FIG. 4. With this configuration, the required man-hours can be significantly reduced, for example, compared to the case of acquiring the positional relationship for multiple corners. This also allows the workpiece 50 to be properly processed in a shorter time. Depending on the accuracy required for processing, the positional relationship of the multiple corners of the workpiece 50 to the position of the registration marks may be acquired. With this configuration, for example, processing of the workpiece 50 can be performed with higher accuracy. As described above with reference to FIG. 4, in this example, the cutting device 16 sets the cut origin 302 based on the detected registration marks. Then, the position of any one of the corners is set as the edge detection point 304, and the distance between the edge detection point 304 and the cut origin 302 is calculated. In this case, this series of operations can be considered as an example of an operation for acquiring the positional relationship between the corners of the workpiece 50 and the registration marks. In addition, the processing performed thereafter based on the cut origin 302 and the above distances can be considered as a processing performed based on this positional relationship. As described above, in the edge detection processing in step S106, the cutting device 16 detects the orientation of any side of the workpiece 50 according to the setting of the edge detection method. In this case, the operation of detecting the orientation of the side in step S106 can be considered as an example of the operation of the side detection processing.

[0054] After detecting the edges and registration marks on the front side of the workpiece 50, the workpiece 50 is turned over by an operator or a placing means or the like (S110). As a result, the workpiece 50 is placed on the table 104 of the cutting device 16 with the back side of the workpiece 50 facing up. In addition, in step S110 of this example, the workpiece 50 is turned over in either a vertical or horizontal direction in accordance with the inversion designation information acquired on the display screen described with reference to FIG. 3, for example. Then, after turning over the workpiece 50, the cutting device 16 performs edge detection on the back side of the workpiece 50 (S112). In this example, the operation of step S112 is an example of the operation of the back side corner position detection process. The back side corner position detection process can be considered to be, for example, a process of detecting the position of a corner of the workpiece 50 in a state in which the back side of the workpiece 50 is placed on the table 104 with the back side of the workpiece 50 facing the processing tool (cutter 122, etc.) of the cutting device 16. In step S112 of this example, the cutting device 16 performs edge detection on the corner at the same position as the edge detection point 304 in step S106 by the same or similar operation as in step S106. In addition, the cutting device 16 detects at least the position of one corner corresponding to the corner whose positional relationship with the register mark was acquired in step S108. Furthermore, the cutting device 16 performs detection on the side in the X direction and the side in the Y direction as necessary based on the edge detection method specified by the operator. In this case, the cutting device 16 also detects the position of the corner and the direction of the side of the workpiece 50 by, for example, having the control device 12 perform processing based on the image acquired by the camera 124. More specifically, in this case, the cutting device 16 performs edge detection by, for example, having the camera application executed by the control device 12 analyze the image in the same or similar operation as in step S106 and acquiring the result. With this configuration, for example, the positions of the corners of the workpiece 50 can be appropriately detected based on an image of at least a portion of the back side surface of the workpiece 50 captured by the camera 124.

[0055] After the necessary information is acquired and calculated by the above operation, the cutting device 16 corrects the cut data based on the result (S114). In this example, the operation of step S114 is an example of the operation of the correction data generation process. The correction data generation process can be considered to be, for example, a process of generating correction data that is data obtained by correcting processing data such as cut data. In this case, the correction of the processing data can be considered to be, for example, adjustment of the processing data according to the state of the processing target. As described above, in this example, the cutting device 16 corrects the cut data to correspond to the inversion of the workpiece 50, thereby generating correction data indicating the processing position when processing is performed from the back side of the workpiece 50 according to the position of the image drawn on the front side of the workpiece 50. In this case, the cutting device 16 corrects the cut data based on the positional relationship acquired in step S108 and the position of the corner detected in step S112. In this case, the cutting device 16 corrects the cut data according to the inversion method specified by the inversion specification information. Furthermore, the cutting device 16 appropriately calculates the cut origin 302 and the like with respect to the positional relationship acquired in step S108, as described above with reference to FIG. 4, and corrects the cut data. Also, when the direction of the side of the workpiece 50 is detected by the edge detection performed in step S106 or step S112, the cutting device 16 further corrects the cut data based on the direction of the detected side. With this configuration, for example, the cut data can be appropriately corrected according to the way the workpiece 50 is turned over in step S110. Also, in this case, by performing correction based on the direction of the side of the workpiece 50 as necessary, for example, even when the above-mentioned positional relationship is acquired for only one corner of the workpiece 50, the cut data can be more appropriately corrected. Also, as a result, even when a large-sized workpiece 50 is used, for example, machining of the workpiece 50 can be performed appropriately with higher accuracy.

[0056] Here, in step S114 of this example, the cutting device 16 performs calculation of a new cut origin 302 for the inverted work 50, data inversion processing, offset processing, etc., as described above with reference to FIG. 4, for example. In this case, the new cut origin 302 for the inverted work 50 is an example of a back side reference position that is a reference position on the back side. The operation of calculating the new cut origin 302 for the inverted work 50 can be considered, for example, as an example of an operation of a back side reference position setting process. The back side reference position setting process can be considered, for example, as a process of setting a position corresponding to the origin position on the back side of the work 50 as the back side reference position based on the positional relationship acquired in the positional relationship acquisition process and the corner position detected in the back side corner position detection process. In addition, the data inversion process can be considered, for example, as a process of inverting the processing position indicated by the processing data in response to the inversion of the front and back of the work 50. The offset process can be considered, for example, as an example of a position adjustment process. The position adjustment process can be considered to be, for example, a process of adjusting the position of the machining position inverted in the inversion process to match the back side reference position, etc. By performing such a process, for example, correction data used for machining the back side of the workpiece 50 can be appropriately generated.

[0057] In addition, in the operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the operations of steps S102 to S114 can be considered as an example of an operation performed in the data correction stage. In this case, the data correction stage can be considered as, for example, a stage in which correction is made to the processing data. Then, after the correction data is generated in the operation up to step S114, the cutting device 16 processes the workpiece 50 based on the correction data (S116). In this example, the operation of step S116 is an example of an operation in the processing stage. The processing stage can be considered as, for example, a stage in which the processing device such as the cutting device 16 processes the workpiece 50. In addition, in step S116 of this example, the cutting device 16 performs cutting processing using the cutter 122 based on the correction data in a state in which the workpiece 50 is placed on the table 104 with the back side of the workpiece 50 facing the cutter 122. According to this example, the workpiece 50 can be appropriately processed from the back side of the workpiece 50.

[0058] As described above, in this example, the cutting device 16 processes the workpiece 50 from its rear side surface based on instructions received from the operator via the display screen described with reference to Fig. 3, for example, and cutting data supplied from the control device 12. In this case, the cutting device 16 performs at least a part of the above operations in accordance with the control of the control device 12. Hereinafter, the control performed by the control device 12 over the cutting device 16 will be described in more detail.

[0059] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the control operation performed by the control device 12 with respect to the cutting device 16, and shows an example of the operation of the control device 12 corresponding to the operation of the cutting device 16 shown in FIG. 6. In this operation, the control device 12 first arranges cut data at an arbitrary position, for example, in response to the operation of the operator, etc. (S202), and recognizes the register marks for the cut data (S204). In this example, the cut data arranged in step S202 is cut data with register marks. As described above, the cut data with register marks can be considered as, for example, cut data indicating a processing position based on the position of the register marks drawn on the work 50. In addition, in relation to the operation of step S204 executed by the control device 12, the cut data with register marks used in this example can also be considered as, for example, cut data including register marks. The cut data including register marks can be considered as, for example, cut data in which a position corresponding to the register marks drawn on the work 50 is set. In addition, by using such cut data, in step S204, the control device 12 recognizes the register marks included in the cut data. Recognizing the register marks included in the cut data can be considered to be, for example, recognizing the position corresponding to the register marks in the cut data. In this example, the control device 12, by recognizing the register marks, transitions to an operation of a register mark output mode, which is an operation mode for outputting cut data with the register marks. In this case, for example, the position corresponding to the register marks in the cut data and the position of the register marks drawn on the workpiece 50 can be considered to be corresponding data for the cut data output later by the control device 12. In this case, arranging the cut data with the register marks in step S202 can be considered to correspond to, for example, determining the position of the cut origin 302 in the workpiece 50. In this case, for example, arranging the cut data in step S202 can be considered to determine the positional relationship between the corner of the workpiece 50 that is the edge detection point 304 and the register marks.

[0060] Following the operation of step S204, the control device 12 sets backside cut conditions, which are conditions for processing the back side surface of the workpiece 50, based on instructions received from the operator via the display screen described with reference to FIG. 3 (S206). More specifically, in step S206, the control device 12 receives, for example, an operation of checking a check box indicating that settings related to the backside cut mode and the method of edge detection are to be performed from the operator, and executes these settings. Regarding the setting of the backside cut mode, the control device 12 sets whether the workpiece 50 is to be inverted up and down or left and right, based on the inversion designation information, regarding the method of inversion in step S110 of FIG. 6. In this case, the operation of setting the backside cut mode in step S208 can be considered as an example of the operation of inversion designation information acquisition processing for acquiring, for example, inversion designation information. Regarding the method of edge detection, the control device 12 sets any one of corner +X direction +Y direction, corner +X direction, corner +Y direction, and corner only. After performing these operations, the control device 12 outputs cut data and supplies the cut data to the cutting device 16 (S208).

[0061] In this example, after supplying the cut data to the cutting device 16, the control device 12 further controls the detection of edges and registration marks to be executed in the cutting device 16. In this case, the control device 12 controls the detection of edges on the front side surface of the workpiece 50 (S210), the detection of registration marks (S212), and the detection of edges on the back side surface of the workpiece 50 (S214), for example, to cause the cutting device 16 to perform the operations of steps S106, S108, and S112 in FIG. 6. As described above in relation to the operations of steps S106, S108, and S112, in these controls, the control device 12 analyzes the images captured by the camera 124 of the cutting device 16 using a camera application, and supplies the results to the cutting device 16. According to this example, for example, the cutting device 16 can be appropriately caused to perform the operations shown in FIG. 6.

[0062] Here, the control device 12 may execute the operations of steps S202 to S214 in FIG. 7 according to a plurality of software programs (programs). More specifically, the control device 12 executes the operations of S202 to S208 according to, for example, software for managing and supplying cut data. Also, the control device 12 executes the operations of S210 to S214 according to, for example, a camera application. In this case, it can be considered that the control device 12 executes the operations of S210 to S214 in response to, for example, a request from the cutting device 16. Also, as described above, the control device 12 may be configured, for example, with a plurality of computers. In this case, for example, the operations of S202 to S208 may be executed by a first computer, and the operations of S210 to S214 may be executed by another second computer.

[0063] As described above, in this example, the operation performed by the cutting device 16 in step S104 in FIG. 6 can be considered as an example of the operation of the data preparation process. In contrast, when focusing on the operation of the control device 12, the operation of steps S202 to S208 in FIG. 7 can be considered as an example of the operation of the data preparation process. Similarly, the operation of steps S210 to S212 in FIG. 7 can be considered as an example of the operation of the positional relationship acquisition process. The operation of step S214 in FIG. 7 can be considered as an example of the operation of the back side surface corner position detection process. In a modified example of the operation of the control device 12, the same or similar operation as the correction of the cut data performed in step S114 in FIG. 6 can be performed by the control device 12. In this case, the cutting device 16 processes the workpiece 50 based on the correction data received from the control device 12.

[0064] Next, supplementary explanations regarding each of the configurations described above will be given. In the above, the cutting device 16 has been described as to the processing performed on the workpiece 50, mainly from the back side of the workpiece 50. In contrast, the cutting device 16 may perform processing on the front side of the workpiece 50. In this case, in the cutting device 16, for example, detection (reading) of the register marks is performed in a state in which a processing tool such as the cutter 122 and the front side of the workpiece 50 face each other. Also, in this case, corrections based on the register mark size, for example, are performed as necessary on the cut data indicating the processing position on the front side of the workpiece 50, and the front side of the workpiece 50 is processed based on the corrected cut data. The correction operation of the cut data performed when processing the front side and the processing operation can be performed in the same or similar manner as, for example, the correction and processing operations performed by a known cutting device. Also, in this case, it is considered that the cutting device 16 further performs processing on the back side of the workpiece 50. In this case, it is possible to perform operations that are the same as or similar to steps S106 and S108 in Fig. 6, with a processing tool such as cutter 122 facing the front side of workpiece 50. In this case, after workpiece 50 is turned over, the edges on the back side are detected, for example, in the same or similar manner as steps S112 to S116 in Fig. 6, and the cutting data is corrected based on the results. Then, based on the corrected cutting data (correction data), processing is performed on the back side of workpiece 50. Even with this configuration, processing of the back side of workpiece 50 can be performed appropriately.

[0065] In this case, the front side surface may be processed within a range that does not cause problems in the detection of edges, etc., on the back side surface that is performed later. More specifically, in this case, the front side surface of the workpiece 50 may be processed so that the corners that become the edge detection points 304 are not cut off. Examples of such processing include processing with a cutter while leaving a part of the workpiece 50 in the thickness direction (for example, a backing paper, etc.), and half-cut processing in which cutting is performed while leaving a seam. Also, full-cut processing in which cutting is performed over the entire thickness of the workpiece 50 may be performed on the parts where the corners that become the edge detection points 304 are not cut off. Also, processing with a processing tool other than a cutter may be performed on the front side.

[0066] As described above, in this example, the registration marks printed on the work 50 are an example of a position reference mark. As the registration marks, for example, known registration marks such as square registration marks, key registration marks, or round registration marks can be suitably used. In this case, these registration marks can be considered as, for example, marks known as position reference marks. The fact that they are known as position reference marks can be considered as, for example, marks set in advance as position reference marks in the cutting device 16 that processes the work 50. In addition, these registration marks can be considered as registration marks prepared in advance in the cutting device 16 or the processing system 10. In contrast, in a modified example of the mark used as the position reference mark, it is also possible to use any mark designated by a user, such as an operator who performs processing using the cutting device 16, as the position reference mark. In this case, for example, a process is performed in a computer such as the control device 12 to allow the user to designate the position of the mark used as the position reference mark. Then, the cutting device 16 further performs a process of having the user specify the position where the position reference mark is drawn on the workpiece 50. With this configuration, for example, any mark can be appropriately used as the position reference mark. More specifically, in this case, for example, it is considered to use any mark as the position reference mark as in the examples shown in Figures 8 to 10.

[0067] 8 to 10 are diagrams for explaining a modified example of the mark used as the position reference mark. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the image and the mark drawn on the work 50 in this modified example. FIG. 8(a) shows an example of an image 204 drawn on the work 50. In this case, the image 204 can be considered as, for example, an image that will be the product of the work 50. The image that will be the product of the work 50 can be considered as, for example, an image that will be processed by the cutting device 16. For convenience of illustration, the position where processing is performed by the cutting device 16 is shown by a broken line 206 in FIG. 8(a). The broken line 206 can be considered to correspond to, for example, the processing position indicated by the cut data. In addition, the operation of this modified example can be considered to be, for example, an operation performed in place of a part of the operation described using FIGS. 1 to 7. In this case, the operation described below using FIGS. 8 to 10 can be considered to correspond to, for example, an operation corresponding to a modified example of the processing performed in the operation of the data correction stage.

[0068] As described above, in the processing system 10, the control device 12 controls the operation of the printing device 14 and the cutting device 16 by supplying print data to the printing device 14 and cut data to the cutting device 16. In this case, it is considered that the control device 12 or another computer handles the data that is the source of the print data and the cut data. In the following, for convenience of explanation, the operation performed by the control device 12 or another computer will be simply described as the operation of the control device 12. In this case, it is considered that the control device 12 uses image drawing software such as Illustrator (registered trademark) to integrally handle the image drawn on the work 50 by the printing device 14 and the processing position by the cutting device 16. In this case, it is considered that, for example, a layer function in the image drawing software is used to separate a layer for the image and a layer for the processing position, and the data indicating the image and the processing position is checked, edited, etc. In this case, it is considered that, for example, a mark serving as a reference for the position is added by the function of the image drawing software, as shown in FIG. 8(b).

[0069] FIG. 8(b) shows an example of a mark added by the image drawing software. More specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 8(b), multiple types of marks 312 and 314 are added to the image 204 and the broken line 206 shown in FIG. 8(a). These marks 312 and 314 are trim marks that indicate the range in which the design is drawn in the image drawing software. The trim marks can be considered, for example, as marks for indicating the cutting position of the printed matter by the function of the image drawing software. In this case, the cutting position of the printed matter can be considered, for example, as a position that is automatically determined according to the setting of the drawing range in the image drawing software, rather than the position where the actual processing is performed in the cutting device 16. Furthermore, of these marks 312 and 314, the mark 312 is placed at the four corners of the drawing range. The mark 312 can also be considered, for example, as a mark added by the function of the image drawing software to the four corners of the range in which the image 204 is drawn. Furthermore, the mark 314 is placed between two marks 312 at a position along the side of the drawing range.

[0070] As these marks 312, 314, for example, known trim marks used in Illustrator (registered trademark) can be suitably used. In this case, for example, it is considered that the marks 312, 314 are added by a menu selection operation by the user using a function of software for drawing images. For example, it is also considered that the marks 312, 314 are added by a drawing operation by the user. In addition, in the software for drawing images, the marks 312, 314 are drawn on a layer other than a layer for an image and a layer for a processing position. In this case, the marks 312, 314 can be considered as objects managed for a purpose other than that of the image 204. In this modified example, the control device 12 supplies print data indicating the marks 312, 314 together with the image 204 to the printing device 14. In addition, as a result, the control device 12 causes the printing device 14 to print the marks 312, 314 together with the image 204 on the workpiece 50. In this case, at least one of the multiple types of marks 312, 314 may be used as a position reference mark, as shown in FIG.

[0071] FIG. 9 shows an example in which at least a part of the mark 312 drawn at the four corners of the range in which the image 204 is drawn is used as the position reference mark. In this case, for example, the control device 12 accepts a user's designation of the position of the mark 312 to be used as the position reference mark by image drawing software. Then, for example, the cutting device 16 accepts a user's designation of the position of the mark 312 to be used as the position reference mark for the workpiece 50 on which the image 204 and the marks 312 and 314 are printed. In addition, the cutting device 16 determines the range of the bounding box 212 based on the position of the mark 312 designated by the user. In this case, the mark 312 can be considered as, for example, a position reference mark arbitrarily designated by the user. In addition, in this case, the range of the bounding box 212 may be determined by taking into consideration, for example, a preset offset distance for the position of the mark 312 designated by the user. More specifically, in this case, for example, by the operation shown in FIG. 10, the control device 12 and the cutting device 16 receive from the user the designation of the position of the mark 312 to be used as the position reference mark.

[0072] FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of using the position reference mark designated by the user, and shows an example of the operation executed by each part of the processing system 10 in the case where an arbitrary mark is used as the position reference mark. Hereinafter, the mark used as the position reference mark is called a register mark. As described above, in this modification, for example, among the marks 312 and 314 described using FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, at least a part of the marks 312 arranged at the four corners of the drawing range is used as a register mark. Then, in this case, the printing device 14 also prints the image 204 on the work 50 based on the print data received from the control device 12 (S302). In this modification, the printing device 14 further prints the marks 312 and 314 described using FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 in addition to the image 204 based on the print data.

[0073] In this modified example, the cutting device 16 can use any mark designated by the user as a register mark. In this case, the control device 12 accepts from the user a selection of which mark to use as a register mark based on the user's operation (S304). In this case, the mark to be used as a register mark can be designated by the user by designating a predetermined position of the mark on a screen on which an image and marks are displayed as shown in FIG. 8(b). With this configuration, for example, the designation of the mark to be used as a register mark can be appropriately accepted from the user. In this case, the process executed by the computer operated by the user can be considered to be, for example, a process of accepting the designation of the position of the mark, rather than a process of selecting a mark of a predetermined shape. The operation of accepting the designation of the position of the mark from the user can be considered to be, for example, a process of designating the position of the mark. The mark position designation process can be considered to be, for example, a process of designating the position of the register mark by the user's operation on the computer. More specifically, in step 304 of this modified example, the control device 12 receives an operation from the user to specify the position of the register mark while the register mark is displayed on the screen. This operation can be considered, for example, as a process operation for determining the register mark by specifying the position of the mark. In this case, determining the register mark means, for example, teaching the software the mark to be used as the register mark. Therefore, this operation can be considered, for example, as a teaching register mark operation for teaching about the register mark.

[0074] More specifically, in step S304 of this modification, the control device 12 performs the above operation by executing a predetermined plug-in software in software for drawing images, such as Illustrator (registered trademark). In this case, the user who operates the control device 12, for example, in a state in which the marks 312 and 314 are arranged around the image 204 on the screen, causes the control device 12 to execute the plug-in software, thereby calling up a function for teaching the register marks. In this case, the user, for example, performs an operation of specifying the position of the position reference mark by hiding layers other than those for the marks 312 and 314 using a function of the software for drawing images. Then, the user specifies the position of the register mark by, for example, a teaching icon, which is an icon that moves in response to the user's operation. For example, when a trim mark such as the mark 312 is used as the register mark, the user specifies the position of the register mark by aligning the position of the teaching icon with a predetermined position of the mark 312. In addition, the control device 12 thereby receives, for example, a specification of the position of the register mark from the user. With this configuration, for example, the register marks can be appropriately determined by the user's operation in the control device 12, and the positions of the register marks can be appropriately obtained.

[0075] Here, when a trim mark such as the mark 312 is used, for example, the intersection of lines extending from the lines actually drawn in the mark 312 may become the reference position of the mark. In this case, it is considered that it is difficult to align the teaching icon with the reference position by the user's operation because the position where there are no lines constituting the mark becomes the reference position. Therefore, the position where the teaching icon is aligned in a mark such as the mark 312 may be a position different from the reference position of the mark. In this case, for example, the position of the mark can be appropriately acquired by aligning the teaching icon with a position whose relative position with respect to the reference position of the mark is known. More specifically, in this case, for example, it is considered that the teaching icon is aligned with a point where multiple lines intersect in the mark 312 (intersection of multiple lines). In addition, in this case, for example, by setting an offset distance according to the positional relationship between this intersection and the reference position of the mark in advance, the position of the register mark mark can be appropriately acquired based on the user's operation.

[0076] In this modification, after receiving a selection from the user as to which mark to use as the register mark, the control device 12 receives from the user a setting of related conditions such as other conditions related to the register mark (S306). In this case, the control device 12 performs the operation of step S306 by, for example, executing the same plug-in software as in step S304. In this case, the user sets the related conditions to the control device 12 in a state in which the layers for the marks 312 and 314 are switched to non-display by, for example, the function of the image drawing software and the layer for the processing position indicating the processing position in the cutting device 16 is displayed. In step S306, the control device 12 receives from the user a setting related to the same or similar items as those described above with reference to FIG. 3. In this modification, the control device 12 further receives from the user a setting indicating the detection position of the register mark and a setting related to the number of times (continuous number) the detection operation is repeated depending on the number of register marks to be detected. With this configuration, for example, in the subsequent operation, the register mark drawn on the work 50 can be more appropriately detected. In step S306 of this modified example, the control device 12 further receives from the user settings of conditions for outputting cut data in software for image drawing, for example.

[0077] After the operation of step S306 is performed, the cutting device 16 detects the register mark printed on the workpiece 50 in response to a user's operation while the workpiece 50 is placed on the cutting device 16 with the front side of the workpiece 50 facing the cutter of the cutting device 16 (S308). In this case, the cutting device 16 detects the register mark in cooperation with the control device 12, for example, by causing the control device 12 to execute a camera application. More specifically, the cutting device 16 causes the camera 124 to photograph the area on the workpiece 50 on which the register mark is printed, for example, in response to the control of the camera application. Then, the cutting device 16 causes the user to specify the position of the register mark, for example, while the image photographed by the camera 124 is displayed on the screen. In this case, the user moves the mouse cursor on the screen on which the register mark is displayed, and selects the position corresponding to the position specified by the user in step S304. With this configuration, for example, an operation to specify the position on the workpiece 50 on which the register mark is drawn can be appropriately received from the user. This also enables, for example, the cutting device 16 and the control device 12 to properly obtain the positions of the register marks.

[0078] Here, as described above, the operation of this modified example can be considered as an operation performed in place of a part of the operation described with reference to Figs. 1 to 7. In this case, the operation of step S302 can be considered to correspond to the operation of printing an image described with reference to Figs. 1 to 7. The operation of step S304 can be considered to be an operation added to the operation described with reference to Figs. 1 to 7. The operation of step S304 can also be considered to be an operation added in relation to the operation of step S204 in Fig. 7. The operation of step S306 can be considered to correspond to at least a part of the operation of setting processing conditions in the operation described with reference to Figs. 1 to 7. The operation of step S306 can also be considered to be an operation related to the operation of step S206 in Fig. 7. The operation of step S308 can be considered to be performed as at least a part of the operation corresponding to step S108 in Fig. 6. Also, in this modified example, the detection of the position of the corner of the workpiece 50 (detection of an edge) is further performed in the same or similar manner as the operation described with reference to Figs. 1 to 7. Then, for example, the workpiece 50 is turned over, and the edge on the back side is detected, the cut data is corrected, and the cutting device 16 is caused to perform processing on the workpiece 50. In this case, in an operation corresponding to step S108 in FIG. 6, the cutting device 16 acquires the positional relationship between the position of the corner of the workpiece 50 detected in the operation corresponding to step S106 in FIG. 6 and the position of the register mark detected in step S308. In this case, the cutting device 16 determines, for example, the position of the image relative to the register mark based on the position specified by the user in step S304. If configured in this way, even in this modified example, for example, processing can be appropriately performed from the back side of the workpiece 50. In this case, for example, various marks can be appropriately used as the register mark.

[0079] In addition, in this modified example, for example, a plurality of marks 312 may be used as the register mark marks. In this case, as described above, in step S306, the setting indicating the detection location of the register mark and the setting regarding the number of consecutive times the detection operation is repeated according to the number of register marks to be detected are performed. In addition, in steps S304 and S308, for example, the operation of specifying the position of the register mark is repeated according to the number of register mark marks to be used. In addition, among the operations performed in this modified example, the order of execution of steps S302 to S306 may be changed. Even in this configuration, for example, various marks can be appropriately used as the register mark marks. In addition, in this modified example, the mark 312 used as the register mark mark can be considered to be, for example, a mark whose relative position with respect to the image 204 is known. In a further modified example of the mark used as the register mark mark, a mark other than the mark 312 may be used as the register mark mark. In this case, for example, the mark 314 printed at a position along the side of the drawing range can be used as the register mark mark. In addition to the mark 312, the mark 314 may be used as a register mark. Furthermore, a mark different from the mark 312 and the mark 314 may be printed together with the image 204 and used as a register mark. In these cases, various marks may be appropriately used as register marks by, for example, receiving a designation of a mark to be used as a register mark from a user. In this case, the bounding box 212 may be set based on a condition set in advance according to the position of the mark to be used as a register mark. The bounding box 212 may not necessarily be determined according to the position of the register mark, but may be determined based on a user's instruction in software for drawing an image. With this configuration, for example, marks drawn at various positions may be used more easily and appropriately as register marks. In addition, for example, the register mark may be not limited to a mark drawn separately from the image 204, but may be a pattern included in the image 204.Even in this configuration, for example, by receiving a user's designation of a location to be used as a register mark in the image 204, the pattern or the like in that location can be appropriately used as the register mark. In this case, it is preferable to use a location that is easy for the user to identify, such as a location where multiple lines intersect in the image 204, as the register mark.

[0080] In the above, the processing tool used for processing the workpiece 50 has been mainly described as a cutter. However, as described above, the cutting device 16 may use a processing tool other than a cutter. In this case, the back side surface of the workpiece 50 described above may be processed by a processing tool other than a cutter. More specifically, the processing tool used in the cutting device 16 may be, for example, various known processing tools. In addition, as such tools, for example, a pen unit, a tangential unit, a router unit, etc. may be used. As the tangential unit, for example, a configuration including a push cutter, a reciprocating (vibration cut), a blade for V-cutting, and a creasing roller may be used. As the router unit, for example, a configuration including an end mill may be used. In addition, when considering the use of various processing tools, it is also possible to use a processing device other than the cutting device 16 in the processing system 10. In addition, in the above, the processing device used in the processing system 10 has been mainly described as a flatbed cutting device 16. However, in a modified configuration of the processing system 10, a processing device having a configuration other than the flatbed type may be used.

[0081] In the above, the workpiece 50 to be processed by the cutting device 16 has been described mainly in terms of an example in which an image and a register mark are drawn on one side of the workpiece 50. In this case, the image can be considered to be, for example, an image that will be the product of the workpiece 50. The surface of the workpiece 50 on which the image and the register mark are drawn can be considered to be the front side. The back side of the workpiece 50 can be considered to be, for example, a surface on which neither the image nor the register mark is drawn. In contrast, in a modified example of the configuration of the workpiece 50, for example, a register mark can be drawn on the surface opposite to the surface on which the image is drawn in the workpiece 50. More specifically, for example, when a workpiece 50 is used in which the color of one side is different from the color of the other side, and one side is a dark color and the other side is a light color, when an image is drawn on the dark colored surface, if a register mark is drawn on the same surface as the image, it may be difficult to detect the register mark. Therefore, in such a case, it is considered that the register mark can be easily recognized by drawing the register mark on the light colored surface. In this case, in relation to the operation of this example described above, the surface on which the register marks are printed (the light-colored surface) can be considered to correspond to the front side. In this case, the cutting device 16 processes the workpiece 50, on which an image is drawn on the back side, from the back side, based on the detection result of the register marks drawn on the front side, for example.

[0082] In addition, in the cutting device 16, for example, it is considered that the cutting device 16 processes a workpiece 50 having a large size. More specifically, in the cutting device 16, for example, it is considered that the cutting device 16 processes a workpiece 50 having a size within a processing range of about 2540 mm x 1300 mm to 2540 mm x 5080 mm. In this case, for example, it is also considered to use a register mark having a feature for improving the detection speed of the register mark. More specifically, for example, when using a round register mark, it is considered that an arbitrary register mark is set as a first register mark to be detected first, and a specific shape indicating the direction of the register mark to be detected second is added to the first register mark. In addition, for example, a rectangular cutout shape is used as this shape. With this configuration, for example, even when a large-sized workpiece 50 is used, the register mark can be detected more efficiently. [Industrial Applicability]

[0083] The present invention can be suitably used in, for example, a processing method. [Explanation of symbols]

[0084] 10 machining system, 102 head section, 104 table, 106 head drive section, 108 operation section, 110 control section, 12 control device, 122 cutter, 124 camera, 14 printing device, 16 cutting device, 20 network, 202 register mark, 204 image, 206 dashed line, 212 bounding box, 302 cutting origin, 304 edge detection point, 312 mark, 314 mark, 400 display screen, 402 setting area, 404 setting area, 406 output button, 408 cancel button, 50 work

Claims

1. A machining method that performs machining on a workpiece using a machining apparatus equipped with a machining tool, A data correction step is performed on the machining data, which is data indicating the machining position on the workpiece using the machining tool, and the data correction step is performed on the machining data, which is data indicating the machining position on the workpiece, A machining step in which the machining device is used to perform machining on the workpiece. Equipped with, On one side of the workpiece, which is the front side, a position reference mark is drawn to serve as a position reference. The aforementioned processing apparatus is a device that performs processing on a workpiece by moving the processing tool relative to the workpiece using vector motion. In the aforementioned data correction step, A positional relationship acquisition process is performed to acquire the positional relationship between the position of any corner of the workpiece and the position of the positional reference mark drawn on the front surface of the workpiece. A back side corner position detection process for detecting the position of the corner on the back side, which is the side of the workpiece opposite to the front side, A correction data generation process generates correction data, which is data obtained by correcting the processing data, based on the positional relationship obtained in the positional relationship acquisition process and the position of the corner detected in the back side corner position detection process. A processing method characterized by performing the following.

2. The machining method according to Claim 1, characterized in that, in the machining step, the back surface of the workpiece is brought into contact with the machining tool, and the machining apparatus is made to perform machining on the workpiece based on the correction data.

3. The workpiece has an image drawn on it at a position whose relative position to the position reference mark is known. When processing is performed from the side of the front surface of the workpiece to match the position of the image drawn on the front surface of the workpiece, processing data indicating the processing position is prepared. The machining method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the correction data generation process, correction is performed on the machining data to generate correction data indicating the machining position when machining is performed from the back side of the workpiece to match the position of the image drawn on the front side of the workpiece.

4. The workpiece is a member whose main surface is rectangular, In the positional relationship acquisition process, the positional relationship with respect to the position of the position reference mark is acquired for only one of the corners of the workpiece. The machining method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the back side corner position detection process, the position of one of the corners corresponding to the corner whose positional relationship was acquired in the positional relationship acquisition process is detected.

5. In the aforementioned data correction step, Further edge detection processing is performed to detect the orientation of any of the edges of the aforementioned workpiece. The machining method according to claim 4, characterized in that, in the correction data generation process, corrections are made to the machining data based on the orientation of the edge detected in the edge detection process.

6. In the positional relationship acquisition process, the origin position, which will be the reference position for machining based on the machining data, is set based on the position of the position reference mark. In the correction data generation process, A back side reference position setting process is performed to set the position on the back side of the workpiece that corresponds to the origin position to the back side reference position, which is the reference position on the back side, based on the position relationship obtained in the position relationship acquisition process and the position of the corner detected in the back side corner position detection process. A reversal process that reverses the machining position indicated by the machining data in accordance with the reversal of the front and back sides of the workpiece, A position adjustment process is performed to adjust the position of the inverted processing position in the inverted processing position to match the reference position of the back side surface. The processing method according to claim 1, characterized by performing the following.

7. The processing apparatus further includes a camera that captures an image of the surface of the workpiece facing the processing tool. In the positional relationship acquisition process, the positional relationship is acquired based on an image taken by the camera of at least a portion of the front surface of the workpiece, The machining method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the back side corner position detection process, the position of the corner is detected based on an image taken of at least a part of the back side of the workpiece by the camera.

8. In the aforementioned data correction step, Further, a process is performed to obtain inversion specification information that specifies how to invert the aforementioned workpiece, The aforementioned reversal specification information specifies either an up-and-down reversal or a left-and-right reversal when reversing the workpiece from an orientation where the front surface of the workpiece faces the workpiece to an orientation where the back surface of the workpiece faces the workpiece. The processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the correction data generation process, correction is performed on the processing data based on the inversion specification information obtained in the inversion specification information acquisition process.

9. In the aforementioned data correction step, This process involves specifying the position of a mark to be used as a position reference mark through user operation on a computer, and further performing a mark position specification process in which the user inputs an operation to specify the position of the position reference mark while the mark to be used as a position reference mark is displayed on the computer screen. In the positional relationship acquisition process, The machining method according to claim 1, characterized in that the position of the position reference mark is obtained by receiving an operation from the user to specify the position where the position reference mark is drawn on the workpiece.

10. A machining apparatus that performs machining on a workpiece by moving a machining tool relative to the workpiece using vector motion, The aforementioned processing tool, A workpiece holding portion for holding the workpiece is located opposite the processing tool. Equipped with, On one side of the workpiece, which is the front side, a position reference mark is drawn to serve as a position reference. Based on machining data indicating the machining position relative to the position corresponding to the aforementioned position reference mark, machining is performed on the workpiece. A positional relationship acquisition process that acquires the positional relationship between the position of any corner of the workpiece and the position of the position reference mark drawn on the front surface of the workpiece, A back side corner position detection process for detecting the position of the corner on the back side, which is the side of the workpiece opposite to the front side, A correction data generation process generates correction data, which is data obtained by correcting the processing data, based on the positional relationship obtained in the positional relationship acquisition process and the position of the corner detected in the back side corner position detection process. By doing so, A processing apparatus characterized by performing processing on the workpiece based on the correction data.

11. A program for controlling the operation of a machining apparatus that performs machining on a workpiece by moving a machining tool relative to the workpiece using vector motion, The processing device is a device that performs processing on the workpiece based on processing data indicating the processing position, with respect to a position corresponding to a position reference mark that serves as a reference for the position. The position reference mark is drawn on one side of the workpiece, which is the front side. The aforementioned processing apparatus, A positional relationship acquisition process is performed to acquire the positional relationship between the position of any corner of the workpiece and the position of the positional reference mark drawn on the front surface of the workpiece. A back side corner position detection process for detecting the position of the corner on the back side, which is the side of the workpiece opposite to the front side, A correction data generation process generates correction data, which is data obtained by correcting the processing data, based on the positional relationship obtained in the positional relationship acquisition process and the position of the corner detected in the back side corner position detection process. A program characterized by causing the following to occur.

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