What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for dispensing small quantities of liquid comprising:
a liquid dispenser with a discharge nozzle having a discharge orifice adjacent to a free end of the nozzle;
a first camera directed at the free end of the nozzle to capture an image of a drop of liquid on the free end in its field of view; and
a computer connected to the first camera and operable to process information from the first camera and generate a signal indicative of the volume of the drop of liquid on the free end.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computer is coupled to the dispenser and is operable to control the size of the drop to be dispensed.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the computer is operable to calculate a value indicative of the volume of the drop prior to application to a workpiece and calculate a value indicative of the volume of the drop after application to the workpiece and to calculate a value indicative of the change in volume of the drop.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the computer is operable to calculate a value indicative of the volume based on the assumption that the drop is spherical.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a blotter mechanism operable to remove a substantial portion of the drop on the nozzle if the drop exceeds a predetermined size.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a manipulator is operable to move a workpiece to the nozzle to have a drop of liquid applied.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a second camera positioned to view a drop of liquid once applied to the workpiece, the second camera being operably connected to a computer with the second camera and the computer to which the second camera is connected are operable to provide a signal indicative of the location of the drop on the workpiece and if the drop is not in the predetermined location, the apparatus is operable to return the workpiece to the nozzle for the application of another drop of liquid.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said orifice opens generally upwardly whereby a formed drop is on the free end of the nozzle.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the manipulator moves the workpiece down into a drop on the nozzle and the computer is operable to provide a second signal indicative of the spacing between a portion of the drop and the workpiece prior to the workpiece contacting the drop and is operable to control operation of the manipulator in accordance with the second signal.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the portion of the drop is a top of the drop.
11. An apparatus for depositing small quantities of liquid onto workpieces at predetermined locations comprising;
a liquid dispenser with a discharge nozzle having a discharge orifice;
a first camera directed at the discharge orifice to capture an image of a drop of liquid on the discharge orifice;
a second camera positioned to capture an image of at least a portion of a workpiece upon which a drop of liquid has been applied;
a computer coupled to the first and second cameras and operable to process information from the first and second cameras and generate signals indicative of the volume of the drop on the nozzle and of the position of the drop once applied to the workpiece.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein a manipulator is operable to move the workpiece in X, Y, and Z axes and move the workpiece down into a drop.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the computer is operable to provide a second signal indicative of the spacing between a portion of the drop and the workpiece and limit the amount of movement of the workpiece into the drop.
14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the computer is coupled to the dispenser and is operable to control the size of the drop to be dispensed.
15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the computer is operable to calculate a value indicative of the volume of the drop prior to application to a workpiece and calculate a value indicative of the volume of the drop after application to the workpiece and to calculate a value indicative of the change in volume of the drop.
16. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a blotter mechanism operable to remove a substantial portion of the drop on the nozzle if the drop exceeds a predetermined size.
17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the orifice opens generally upwardly whereby a formed drop is on the free end of the nozzle.
18. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the manipulator moves the workpiece down into a drop on the nozzle and the computer is operable to provide a second signal indicative of the spacing between a portion of the drop and the workpiece prior to the workpiece contacting the drop and is operable to control operation of the manipulator in accordance with the second signal.
19. A method of applying a small drop of liquid to a workpiece, comprising:
pressurizing a liquid with a pump;
inducing the liquid to flow out of an orifice of a nozzle to commence formation of a drop;
viewing said drop with a first machine vision system;
generating a signal indicative of the volume of the drop;
stopping the formation of the drop in response to the signal indicating a predetermined volume of the drop has been achieved; and
applying at least a portion of the thus formed drop to a workpiece.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising removing the drop from the nozzle if the drop is larger than a predetermined maximum size and thereafter forming another drop for application to a workpiece.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of pressurizing a liquid with a pump further comprises controlling formation of the drop by controlling operation of the pump in response to the signal.
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of generating a signal further comprises calculating the value indicative of the volume of the drop by assuming the drop is spherical and by measuring multiple dimensions of the drop.
23. The method of claim 19, wherein the drop is formed on the top of a nozzle with the orifice opening onto a free end of the nozzle.
24. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of applying further comprises:
moving the workpiece to the nozzle such that a predetermined location on the workpiece is over the thus formed drop; and
lowering the workpiece into the drop a predetermined distance and thereby apply at least a portion of said drop to said workpiece.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A data display apparatus for displaying, on a display screen, a plurality of datasets each composed of a set of pieces of numerical value data respectively corresponding to a plurality of values on a variable axis that is common to the plurality of datasets, the apparatus comprising:
a display control unit that displays, on the display screen, each of the plurality of datasets in a display mode of a graph mode or a table mode in such a manner that the plurality of datasets are vertically arranged with a horizontal axis representing the variable axis of each of the plurality of datasets coinciding with each other;
a storage unit that stores the height of each of a plurality of partial display areas in which the plurality of datasets respectively are displayed by the display control unit for each of a case of displaying in a graph mode and a case of displaying in a table mode; and
an input receiving unit that receives an input of instruction for switching the display mode for at least one of the plurality of partial display areas,
wherein the display control unit sets the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas for which the input of instruction for switching the display mode has been received by the input receiving unit in such a manner that the height of the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas becomes the height of the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas for the switched display mode stored in the storage unit, and displays the set at least one of the plurality of partial display areas in the switched display mode.
2. The data display apparatus, as defined in claim 1, wherein the input receiving unit receives a user input for specifying an arbitrary position in the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas by an input unit for specifying an arbitrary position on the display screen, as the input of instruction for switching the display mode for the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas.
3. The data display apparatus, as defined in claim 1, wherein the input receiving unit receives a user input of keeping, by an input unit for operating the position of a cursor on the display screen, the cursor for a predetermined time period or longer in the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas displayed in a table mode, as an input of instruction for switching the display mode for the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas to a graph mode.
4. The data display apparatus, as defined in claim 1, wherein the input receiving unit receives a user input of moving, by an input unit for operating the position of a cursor on the display screen, the cursor from the inside of one of the plurality of partial display areas that is displayed in a graph mode to the outside of the one of the plurality of partial display areas, as an input of instruction for switching the display mode for the one of the plurality of partial display areas to a table mode.
5. The data display apparatus, as defined in claim 1, wherein the input receiving unit receives a user input of reducing, by an input unit for operating the size of the partial display area displayed on the display screen, the size of the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas that is displayed in a graph mode to a size smaller than a threshold that has been set in advance, as an input of instruction for switching the display mode for the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas to a table mode, and receives a user input for increasing, by the input unit, the size of the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas that is displayed in a table mode to a size larger than or equal to a threshold, as an input of instruction for switching the display mode for the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas to a graph mode.
6. The data display apparatus, as defined in claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays by assigning values on the variable axis by uniform coordinates or logarithmic coordinates.
7. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing therein a data display program for causing a computer to function as a data display apparatus that displays, on a display screen, a plurality of datasets each composed of a set of pieces of numerical value data respectively corresponding to a plurality of values on a variable axis that is common to the plurality of datasets, the apparatus comprising:
a display control unit that displays, on the display screen, each of the plurality of datasets in a display mode of a graph mode or a table mode in such a manner that the plurality of datasets are vertically arranged with a horizontal axis representing the variable axis of each of the plurality of datasets coinciding with each other;
a storage unit that stores the height of each of a plurality of partial display areas in which the plurality of datasets respectively are displayed by the display control unit for each of a case of displaying in a graph mode and a case of displaying in a table mode; and
an input receiving unit that receives an input of instruction for switching the display mode for at least one of the plurality of partial display areas,
wherein the display control unit sets the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas for which the input of instruction for switching the display mode has been received by the input receiving unit in such a manner that the height of the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas becomes the height of the at least one of the plurality of partial display areas for the switched display mode stored in the storage unit, and displays the set at least one of the plurality of partial display areas in the switched display mode.
8. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing therein a data structure that defines display of a plurality of datasets, on a display screen, each composed of a set of pieces of numerical value data respectively corresponding to a plurality of values on a variable axis that is common to the plurality of datasets, the data structure, with respect to each of a plurality of partial display areas in which the plurality of datasets respectively are displayed, comprising:
(a) first data that defines, based on a horizontal axis representing the variable axis in a predetermined scale that has been set in such a manner to be common to all of the plurality of partial display areas, the size of a partial display area when a dataset to be displayed in the partial display area is displayed in a table mode;
(b) second data that defines, based on the horizontal axis, the size of the partial display area when the dataset to be displayed in the partial display area is displayed in a predetermined graph mode;
(c) third data that defines whether display in the partial display area is in a table mode or in a graph mode; and
(d) fourth data that defines the position of the partial display area on the display screen in such a manner that the partial display area has the size defined in the first data when the third data defines display in a table mode, and the partial display area has the size defined in the second data when the third data defines display in a graph mode, and that all of the partial display areas are vertically arranged with the horizontal axis of each of all of the partial display areas coinciding with each other on the display screen.