Recording pen apparatus

A recording apparatus for recording graphs or other graphical representations, with relative movements between a writing instrument on a carriage which is moved by a carriage drive unit, and a sheet of paper which is fed by a paper feed unit in opposite directions perpendicular to the line of movements of the carriage. The writing instrument is moved between a recording position, and a non-recording position in which the writing instrument is spaced away from the paper. The apparatus comprises a controller for activating the paper feed unit and carriage drive unit to effect relative non-recording movements of the writing instrument and the paper with the writing instrument held in the non-recording position. The paths of the non-recording movements are determined based on input recording data so as to indicate a recording area in which the graphical representation is drawn by the writing instrument, whereby the operator can check dimensions and location of the recording area before the graphical representation is actually drawn on the paper.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention generally relates to a recording device for drawing 
graphs, pictures and the like on a recording paper or other medium, by 
moving suitable drawing means relative to the recording paper with the 
writing tip held in contact with the paper. More particularly, the 
invention is concerned with such type of recording device equipped with a 
controller which permits easy checking of a recording range on the 
recording paper prior to an actual recording operation. 
There have been known recording devices which are equipped with: a 
recording paper feeder for feeding in the vertical direction a sheet of 
paper supported on a paper support or platen; a carriage for supporting a 
writing instrument and movable in a direction perpendicular to the feeding 
direction of the recording paper; a carriage drive unit for driving the 
carriage; and a drive unit for selectively locating the writing instrument 
at a recording position wherein the writing instrument contacts the 
recording paper, or at a non-recording position wherein the writing 
instrument is separated or spaced from the recording paper. Such a 
recording device performs a recording operation by bringing the writing 
instrument into contact with the recording paper and moving the carriage 
and the recording paper relative to each other. In this way, graphs, 
pictures and other graphical representations are drawn on the recording 
paper, based on recording data entered for the recording operation. 
However, a positional relationship between a graphical representation to 
be drawn and characters, or other graphical representations already drawn 
on the recording paper is unknown to the operator before a recording 
operation is actually effected. Thus, the known recording device or 
apparatus suffers the possibility that the actually drawn graph, picture 
or the like may interfere with lines of characters, or other graphical 
figures, or spaces between the adjacent recordings are insufficient. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a recording 
apparatus which has provisions for easy checking of a recording area prior 
to an actual recording operation to effect recording in the recording 
area. 
According to the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus 
having a paper support for supporting a recording sheet of paper, a paper 
feeder for feeding the sheet of paper in opposite directions, a carriage 
supporting a writing instrument and movable in a direction perpendicular 
to a line of feed of said sheet of paper, a carriage drive unit for moving 
the carriage in said direction, a writing-instrument drive unit for moving 
the writing instrument between a recording position in which the writing 
instrument is in contact with the surface of the sheet of paper, and a 
non-recording position in which the writing instrument is spaced away from 
the surface of the paper, and a control unit for drawing a graphical 
representation by means of relative movements of the carriage and the 
sheet of paper with the writing instrument held in the recording position, 
based on input recording data, wherein the improvement comprises: said 
control unit including control means for activating the paper feeder and 
carriage drive unit, to effect relative non-recording movements between 
the writing instrument and the sheet of paper with the writing instrument 
held in the non-recording position, paths of the relative non-recording 
movements being determined based on the input recording data so as to 
indicate a recording area in which the graphical representation is drawn 
by the writing instrument, whereby the operator can check dimensions and 
location of the recording area before the graphical representation is 
actually drawn on the sheet of paper. 
In the recording apparatus constructed as described above, the control 
means activates the paper feeder and carriage drive units with the writing 
instrument placed in the non-recording position, so as to effect the 
non-recording movements of the writing instruments relative to the paper 
prior to starting an actual recording operation to record a graphical 
representation based on input recording data. By observing the relative 
non-recording movements, the operator may easily check for the possibility 
of whether or not a graphical representation to be recorded based on the 
recording data interferes with already recorded characters or other 
graphical representations, and whether there is provided sufficient spaces 
around the graphical representation to be recorded. Thus, the recording 
apparatus of the invention has provisions for enabling the operator to 
know the dimensions and location of a recording area in which a graph or 
other graphical figure is plotted. Consequently, the instant recording 
apparatus requires no trial recording on a recording medium. 
According to one embodiment of the invention, a mode selector key is 
provided for selecting a writing mode in which characters are written by 
the writing instrument, or a recording mode in which the graphical 
representation is drawn. Further, a check key is provided for effecting 
the relative non-recording movements of the writing isntrument and the 
paper. In this instance, the control means is responsive to the operation 
of the check key in the recording mode, and activates the paper feeder and 
carriage drive unit for effecting said relative non-recording movements. 
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the control means 
comprises storage means for storing the input recording data, and means 
for preparing based on the stored input recording data non-recording data 
representative of said relative non-recording movements. 
The paths of said relative non-recording movements may be taken along a 
diagonal line of a rectangle which encloses said recording area, or along 
four sides of the rectangle. Alternatively, the non-recording feed paths 
may be taken along two adjacent sides of the rectangle, which two sides 
define at their intersecting point an origin of recording of the graphical 
representation. 
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the recording apparatus 
further comprises a graph type selector key for selecting one of plural 
types or patterns of graphs including a pie chart. When the pie chart is 
selected by the graph type selector key, the control means controls the 
paper feeder and carriage drive unit such that the non-recording feed 
paths comprise a first path along a straight line connecting an origin of 
recording and a center of the pie chart, a second path along a straight 
line connecting the center and a point on the circumference of the pie 
chart, and a third path along the circumference of a the pie chart. 
According to a still further embodiment of the invention, the control means 
controls the paper feeder and the carriage drive unit such that the 
non-recording movements are paths which are taken when the graphical 
representation is actually drawn based on the input recording data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
There are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, a recording mechanism 10 
and a keyboard assembly 12 of a ball-point pen type recording apparatus to 
which the invention is applied. The recording mechanism 10 is provided in 
the same frame as the keyboard assembly 12, and disposed adjacent to and 
at the back of the keyboard assembly 12. 
The recording mechanism 10 writes or draws characters, symbols, figures, 
graphs, pictures and the like on a recording medium in the form of a sheet 
of paper 14 by bringing a ball-point pen 16 serving as a writing or 
drawing instrument into contact with the recording paper 14 and then 
moving the ball-point pen 16 and the recording paper 14 relative to each 
other. More particularly described, a platen 20 of circular shape in cross 
section is concentrically secured to a horizontal platen shaft 18 which is 
rotatably supported by shaft supporters (not shown), and a platen gear 22 
is fixed to one end of the platen shaft 18. This platen gear 22 is engaged 
with a motor gear 26 fixed to an output shaft of a paper feeding stepping 
motor 24. When the platen 20 is rotated by the stepping motor 24, the 
recording paper 14 set on the platen 20 is fed in the vertical direction. 
In other words, the platen 20 and the stepping motor 24 constitute a 
recording paper feeder of this preferred embodiment. 
In front of the platen 20, a guide rod 28 of circular shape in cross 
section is fixed to the frame (not shown) parallel to the rotating axis of 
the platen 20, and a carriage 30 fixedly carrying the ball-point pen 16 is 
supported by the guide rod 28 so that it is movable in an axial direction 
of the guide rod 28 and pivotable about the guide rod 28. A drive pulley 
34 fixed to an output shaft of a stepping motor 32 and an intermediate 
pulley 36 are connected by a wire 38 in the form of a loop extending 
parallel to the guide rod 28. With the carriage 30 fixed to the wire 38, 
the carriage 30 is driven perpendicular to the feeding direction of the 
recording paper 14. Namely, the wire 38 and the stepping motor 32 form a 
carriage drive unit of this preferred embodiment. 
A front end portion 40 of the carriage 30 is slidably in contact with and 
supported by a guide plate 42 which is disposed in front of and parallel 
to the guide rod 28. When the guide plate 42 moves up and down in the 
vertical direction, the carriage 30 is pivoted about the guide rod 28. The 
guide plate 42 is provided with a pair of arms 44 which are pivotally 
supported on the frame (not shown). Each end of the guide plate 42 has a 
return spring 46 between the arm 44 and the frame so that the guide plate 
42 is always biased downwardly by the return spring 46. Each arm 44 is 
connected with a solenoid 48 which drives the guide plate 42 in a 
direction opposite to the direction in which the guide plate 42 is biased 
by the return spring 46. Therefore, the front end portion 40 of the 
carriage 30 is normally located in its lower position so that a front end 
portion of the ball-point pen 16 is separated from the recording paper 14. 
When the solenoids 48 are activated to drive the arms 44 to their upper 
positions, the ball-point pen 16 is pressed against the recording paper 
14. That is, the guide plate 42, the arms 44 and the solenoids 48 of the 
preferred embodiment constitute a drive unit for activating the writing 
instrument. 
On the keyboard assembly 12 described above, there are disposed a liquid 
crystal display 50 and a multiplicity of input keys. The input keys 
comprise character keys 52 corresponding to alphabets, numerals and 
symbols, a space key 54, a graph key 56, a code key 58, a carriage return 
key 60, paper feed keys 62 and 64, pen travel keys 66 and 68, a size key 
70 and other keys. The aforementioned graph key 56 is used to select a 
mode of the recording apparatus. The modes available are a normal writing 
mode for writing characters and a graph mode for drawing a graph. By 
operating one of the character keys 52 imprinted with numerals "1" through 
"8" in the graph mode, a type of graph such as a pie chart, a bar graph or 
a broken-line graph is selected. 
The ball-point pen type recording apparatus constructed as described above 
is provided with a control system shown in FIG. 3. The above mentioned 
keyboard assembly 12 accommodates a main control microcomputer 72 serving 
as a controller and a calculation control microcomputer 74 and a liquid 
crystal display control microcomputer 76. The main control microcomputer 
72 processes signals sent from input keys according to a program stored in 
its ROM through utilization of a temporary storage function of its RAM, 
and also causes the calculation control microcomputer 74 to perform a 
calculating operation, and the liquid crystal display control 
microcomputer 76 to display characters or indexes in the liquid crystal 
display 50. The main control microcomputer 72 sends drive signals to the 
X-axis stepping motor 32, the Y-axis stepping motor 24 and the solenoids 
48 via a drive unit 78, and controls the above indicated components at 
predetermined timings. 
An operating sequence of the preferred embodiment will be explained, 
referring to a flowchart in FIG. 4. 
A step S1 is first executed to judge whether or not any of the input keys 
disposed on the keyboard assembly 12 has been pressed. When the key has 
not been pressed, the step S1 is executed again. When the key has been 
pressed, a step S2 is executed to judge whether or not the graph mode has 
been selected, i.e., whether or not the graph key 56 has been pressed. 
When the graph mode has not been selected, a normal writing mode operation 
in a step S3 is effected, and characters, numerals and/or symbols are 
written on the recording paper 14 in response to operations of the 
character keys 52. When the graph mode has been selected, a step S4 is 
executed to judge whether or not any of the graph type select keys has 
been pressed. As indicated above, the graph key 56 serves as a mode 
selector key. The character keys 52 imprinted with numerals "1" through 
"8" act as graph type selector keys for selecting one of eight graph types 
when the graph mode is selected, and a graph select message is displayed 
on the liquid crystal display 50. for example, when the character key 52 
imprinted with "1" is pressed, a circle graph or pie chart is selected. 
When the character key 52 imprinted with "3" is pressed, a bar graph is 
selected, and when the key 52 with "5" is pressed, a graph of broken line 
is selected. When any of the graph type select keys is judged to have not 
been pressed in the step S4, a step S5 is skipped. When the graph type 
select key is judged to have been pressed in the step S4, the step S5 is 
executed and a flag corresponding to the selected type of graph is set. A 
step S6 is then executed to judge whether or not the pressed key is a 
numeral keys. When the pressed key is not a numeral keys, a step S7 is 
skipped. When a numeral key is pressed, the step S7 is executed and the 
numeric value corresponding to the pressed numeral key is stored in a 
buffer memory. This data entered through the numeral key is effective when 
the numeral key is pressed alone after the desired graph is selected in 
the graph mode. A step S8 is then executed to judge whether or not an 
enter key has been pressed. The carriage return key 60 is referred to as 
the enter key in the graph mode. When the enter key (carriage return key) 
60 has not been pressed, a step S9 is skipped. When the enter key 60 has 
been pressed, the numerical value stored in the buffer memory is stored in 
a graph memory which serves as recording data storage means for storing 
plural sets of numerical data that are presented as a graph. 
A step S10 is then executed to judge whether or not a start key or a check 
key has been pressed. In the graph mode, the space key 54 is referred to 
as the start key, and the space key 54 and code key 58, when concurrently 
depressed, serve as the check key. When neither of the start key and check 
key are judged to have been pressed in the step S10, the step S2 and 
following steps are executed repeatedly. When one of the above mentioned 
keys is judged to have been pressed, a step S11 is executed to judge 
whether or not the start key has been pressed. When the start key is 
judged to have been pressed in the step S11, recording is initiated. When 
the start key is judged to have not been pressed that is, if the check key 
has been pressed, a non-recording feed operation is initiated. Assuming 
that the start key is judged to have been pressed in the step S11, a step 
S12 is executed, whereby the solenoids 48 are activated and the front end 
portion of the carriage 30 is lifted by the guide plate 42, whereby the 
carriage 30 is inclined rearwardly and the front end portion of the 
ball-point pen 16 is brought into contact with the recording paper 14. In 
this state, a step S13 is executed to judge whether the pie chart has been 
selected or not on the basis of the flag set in the preceding step S5. 
When the pie chart is judged to have been selected, a step S14 is 
executed, whereby the carriage 30 and the platen 20 are driven by the 
stepping motors 32 and 24, respectively, according to the recording data 
(numerical data in the graph memory), and the ball-point pen 16 and the 
recording paper 14 are moved relative to each other. Basic pie chart 
pattern data stored in the ROM is representative of a circle which has a 
diameter corresponding to the desired size selected by the size key 70. 
This basic pattern data is modified according to a magnification command 
from the size key 70. Described in more detail, a step S14 is executed 
wherein a magnification size S, M or L which is selected by the size key 
70 is indicated by appropriate indexes 80 on the liquid crystal display 
50, which indexes 80 are selectively indicated each time the size key 70 
is pressed. When the size M is displayed, a circle is drawn with a 
diameter twice as large as that of the size S. When the size L is 
displayed, a circle with a diameter twice as large as that of the size M 
is drawn. A step S15 is then executed to judge whether or not the pie 
chart has been completed. However, since the recording of the pie chart is 
not completed by the drawing of the circle, the next step S16 is executed 
to divide the circle according to the input data. That is, since plural 
sets of numeric data for drawing the desired pie chart are stored in the 
above mentioned graph memory, the circle is divided by radial lines 
according to the first numeric value in the graph memory, and the numeric 
value is written inside the area defined by the radial lines. A step S17 
is then executed to judge whether percent symbols are required or not, 
i.e., to judge whether or not the pie chart with percent symbols has been 
selected by pressing the character key 52 corresponding to numeral "2". 
When the percent symbols are not required, the steps S15 and S16 are 
executed again to further divide the circle. When the percent symbols are 
required, a step S18 is executed to print a % symbol following the numeric 
value drawn inside the divided circle. After the step S18 has been 
executed, the steps S15 and S16 are executed again. When the pie chart is 
judged to have been drawn through repeated executions of the above 
indicated steps, a step S19 is executed following the step S15, whereby 
the solenoids 48 are deenergized to separate the ball-point pen 16 from 
the recording paper 14, and the stepping motors 24 and 32 are driven to 
return the ball-point pen 16 to an origin G wherein it has been located 
before the start of the recording operation. 
When the pie chart is judged to have not been selected in the above 
described step S13, this means that the bar graph or the graph of broken 
line has been selected. Therefore, a step S20 is executed, and an axis of 
ordinate or vertical axis (Y axis) and an axis of abscissa or horizontal 
axis (X axis) of the bar graph or broken-line graph are drawn. The basic 
pattern data stored in the ROM comprise data representative of a dimension 
of the ordinate axis and the first recording position (first bar position) 
along the abscissa axis. The length of the abscissa axis is calculated 
according to the number of numerical values entered in the graph mode and 
stored in the graph memory, and the abscissa axis is drawn to that length 
in the step S20. A step S21 is then executed to calibrate the ordinate 
axis based on the maximum value of the data stored in the graph memory, 
and the values of calibrations are written along the ordinate axis. A step 
S22 is then executed to judge, based on the flag set in the step S5, 
whether or not the broken-line graph has been selected. Assuming that the 
broken-line graph is judged to have been selected, a step S23 is executed 
to judge whether or not the broken-line graph has been completed. 
Normally, since the recording of the graph is not completed by the drawing 
of the ordinate and abscissa axes, steps S23 and S24 are executed 
repeatedly to draw broken lines in due order according to the sets of data 
stored in the graph memory. When the graph is judged to have been drawn by 
repeated execution of the steps S23 and S24, the step S19 is executed 
following the step S23 to return the ball-point pen 16 to the origin G as 
described above. On the other hand, when the broken-line graph is judged 
to have not been selected in the aforementioned step S22, it means that 
the bar graph has been selected. Therefore, a step S25 is executed to 
judge whether or not the graph has been completed. Since the drawing of 
the graph is not completed by the recording of the ordinate and abscissa 
axes, a step S26 is executed, whereby a bar is drawn with a length 
corresponding to the first value stored in the graph memory. A step S27 is 
then executed to judge whether or not hatching is required inside the bar, 
i.e., to judge whether or not the bar graph with hatching has been 
selected by pressing the character key 52 corresponding to numeral "6" 
when hatching is judged to be unrequired, the steps S25 and S26 are 
executed repeatedly to draw bars corresponding to the second and 
subsequent numerical values stored in the graph data. When hatching is 
judged to be required, a step S28 is executed, whereby the drawn bar is 
hatched and then the steps S25 and S26 are executed repeatedly. When the 
graph is judged to have been completed, the above indicated step S19 is 
executed following the step S25 to return the ball-point pen 16 to the 
origin G. In the sequence of operation as described above, the ball-point 
pen type recording apparatus draws a desired type of graph based on the 
input data. 
Prior to the recording operation, however, it is difficult for the operator 
to correctly grasp an actual size of a graph to be drawn. Therefore, in 
order to prevent the graph to be plotted from interfering with a group of 
characters and/or a picture or pictures already drawn on the recording 
paper 14, it is desired to check, in advance, the actual size of the graph 
to be plotted. To check the actual size of the graph, the operator 
activates the check key concurrently with the code key 58 and the space 
key 54 prior to a depression of the start key (space key) 54 in the step 
S11. Since the start key is judged to have not been pressed in the above 
mentioned step S11, a step S29 is executed, whereby the solenoids 48 are 
kept deenergized and the front end of the ball-point pen 16 remains 
separated or spaced from the recording paper 14. A routine for checking 
the range of recording is then executed in a step S30. 
The recording range check routine in the step S30 is constructed as shown 
in FIG. 5. Namely, a step SS1 is first executed to judge whether or not 
the pie chart has been selected with the flag set in the above described 
step S5. When the pie chart has been selected, a step SS2 is executed to 
determine the recording range according to the input data. As described 
above, since the ROM stores the data (algorithm) for drawing the basic 
pattern of the pie chart E and the data (algorithm) for calculating a 
rectangular recording range R as shown in FIG. 6, so that the rectangle R 
fully covers the maximum values in the X and Y directions of the pie chart 
E which is actually drawn with a diameter corresponding to a size selected 
by the size key 70, i.e., the rectangle R (recording range) has the origin 
G of the ball-point pen 16 at a bottom left corner thereof as shown in 
FIG. 6, and fully encloses the above indicated pie chart E. To represent 
the size of the rectangle R, non-recording data for moving the front end 
of the ball-point pen 16 along two sides of the rectangle R adjacent to 
the origin G is prepared. The step SS2 is followed by a step SS3, wherein 
the X-axis stepping motor 32 and the Y-axis stepping motor 24 are driven 
based on the non-recording data prepared in the step SS2 to move the front 
end of the ball-point pen 16 along the aforementioned two sides. Solid 
lines in FIG. 6 represent paths taken by the front end of the ball-point 
pen 16, and encircled numbers indicate the order in which the ball-point 
pen 16 is moved. As mentioned above, the two sides of the rectangle R are 
indicated by the non-recording feed paths of the ball-point pen 16. By 
observing these paths of the pen 16 prior to the actual recording 
operation, the operator can confirm that the rectangle R which encloses 
the pie chart does not interfere with the already written or drawn 
characters and/or graphical figures. The paths to be taken by the pen 16 
according to the non-recording data prepared in the step SS2 may be a 
diagonal line or four sides of the rectangle R as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. 
Further, it is possible that the non-recording data be prepared such that 
the pen 16 is moved from the origin G to the center of the pie chart E, 
then from the center of the circle to the top point on the circumference 
of the circle, and along the circumference of the circle back to the top 
point on the circumference, from which the pen 16 is moved back to the 
origin G via the center of the circle, as shown in FIG. 9 by arrows 
indicated by encircled numbers 1 through 5. In this connection, it is 
noted that the solid lines of FIG. 8 numbered 1 through 4 representing the 
paths of the pen 16 actually coincide with the four sides of the rectangle 
R, and that the solid line of FIG. 9 representing the third circular path 
of the pen 16 actually coincides with the circumference of the pie chart 
E. 
On the other hand, when the pie chart is judged to have not been selected 
in the step SS1, that is, the bar graph or the broken-line graph has been 
selected, a step SS4 is executed to determine the recording range 
according to the input data. As previously stated, the ROM stores the 
basic pattern data which includes data representing the length of the 
ordinate axis of the bar or broken-line graph and the first recording 
distance along the abscissa axis (X-axis) from the ordinate axis as 
mentioned above, and the length of the abscissa axis is calculated 
according to the number of input data. Then, the recording range is 
determined such that the rectangle R encloses the bar graph or the 
broken-line graph H, and such that the bottom left intersecting point of 
two sides thereof is the recording origin G. The non-recording data for 
driving the X-axis stepping motor 32 and the Y-axis stepping motor 24 is 
prepared according to the determined rectangle R. Examples of paths of the 
pen 16 according to such non-recording data are shown in FIGS. 10-13, in 
arrowed solid lines. In the example of FIG. 10, the non-recording data is 
prepared so that the pen 16 is moved along the two sides in both 
directions, beginning at the origin G of the rectangle R. In the example 
of FIG. 11, the ball-point pen 16 is moved along a diagonal line beginning 
at the origin G of the rectangle R. In the example of FIG. 12, the 
ball-point pen 16 is moved along four sides of the rectangle R. In the 
example of FIG. 13, data for moving the ball-point pen 16 is prepared such 
that the pen 16 is moved from the origin G to an intersecting point of the 
ordinate and abscissa axes of the bar graph or broken-line graph H and 
further along the four sides of the rectangle R in which the graph H is 
drawn. A step SS3 is then executed to effect the non-recording feed 
operation of the ball-point pen 16 in the order shown by arrows in FIGS. 
10 through 13. When the number of data entered through the numeral keys is 
different from one graph to another, the number of bars is changed as 
shown in FIG. 13. For example, the path indicated by arrow 5 is replaced 
by arrow 5' or 5" to change the non-recording feed distance in the 
directions corresponding to arrows 4 and 6. In the instant embodiment, the 
steps SS2 and SS4 constitute means for preparing non-recording data. 
As described above, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, 
when the check key is pressed, that is the code key 58 and the space key 
54 are concurrently pressed prior to the actual recording operation, the 
rectangle R or the circle E enclosing or defining the graph to be drawn is 
indicated by the non-recording feed paths taken by the ball-point pen 16. 
During the non-recording feed operation, therefore, the operator can check 
the possibility of interference of the graph with, or a space from, the 
characters or picture already drawn on the recording paper 14. If the 
operator finds, during the non-recording feed operation, that the position 
of the graph to be drawn is not appropriate, the operator can shift the 
set position of the origin G to a proper position by moving the recording 
paper 14 in the vertical feed direction or by moving the carriage 30 in 
the longitudinal direction through operation of the paper feed keys 62, 64 
or the pen travel keys 66, 68. 
In the instant embodiment which has been described,the recording origin G 
is set at a lower left position relative to the circular, bar or 
broken-line graph E, H, i.e., spaced from the graph by predetermined 
distances along the vertical and horizontal axes (in the paper feeding and 
carriage moving directions), and the data for the non-recording movements 
of the pen 16 for checking the actual recording paths is prepared so that 
the pen 16 is moved from the origin G so as to indicate the recording 
range in which the desired graph is drawn according to the input data. The 
observation of the non-recording movement of the pen 16 permits the 
operator to set the recording origin at a suitable position on the 
recording sheet 14 so that the graph is positioned with sufficient spaces 
relative to the other recordings on the recording paper 14. Further, since 
the origin G is set at a lower left position relative to the graph, the 
bottom of the recording paper 14 can be checked without a paper end 
mechanism. 
In the preferred embodiment as described above, the data for indicating the 
size of the rectangle R may be prepared so that the non-recording feed 
movement of the ball-point pen 16 is performed with respect to the 
recording paper 14 along two opposite sides of the rectangle R or a 
diagonal line which does not pass the origin G. In short, data for the 
non-recording feed operation of the ball-point pen 16 may be created in 
any desired form if the paths taken by the pen 16 based on the 
non-recording data represents the actual size of the circle E, or the 
rectangle R which encloses the recording area. 
Referring to FIG. 14, another embodiment of the invention will be 
described. 
In the above described embodiment, the non-recording feed operation of the 
ball-point pen 16 prior to the actual recording operation is effected to 
indicate the recording range determined by the recording-range setting 
routine in the step S30. However, the recording range check routine in the 
above mentioned step S30 of FIG. 4A may be removed. That is, the step S29 
of FIG. 4A is followed by the step S13 and the subsequent steps. In this 
case, too, the ball-point pen 16 and recording paper 14 are moved relative 
to each other, with the pen 16 kept away from the paper 14, in the steps 
S13 and subsequent in the same manner as in the actual recording operation 
as previously discussed, whereby the operator can check the actual 
dimension of the graph or picture to be drawn prior to starting the 
recording operation. The locus of the ball-point pen 16 described during 
the non-recording movements represents the actual size of the circle E, or 
the rectangle R which encloses the actual recording area. In this 
embodiment wherein the non-recording feed paths are the same as those in 
an actual recording operation, a program for determining the recording 
range and non-recording data for non-recording feed operation, and a 
storage location for storing such program and data are not required. 
While the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiment, 
it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but 
various changes and modifications may be made to the invention without 
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.