Abstract:
A system and method for cutting material, adaptable for use with existing manufacturing devices, where the system can be adapted to work with existing controllable manufacturing processors, obtain one or more predetermined dimensions during a manufacturing process, and use those dimensions to simultaneously control the manufacturing process while generating a concurrent certification of the predetermined dimensions. In an exemplary embodiment the device comprises a milling line; a stepper motor; a mainframe; a protected real-time sensor; a controller; and a computer in communication with the controller and sensor. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope of meaning of the claims.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present inventions relate to the field of milling. More specifically, the present invention, in an exemplary embodiment, relates to a system and method for milling material while simultaneously obtaining measurements of predetermine dimensions of that material after processing and generating a certification of those dimensions.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    In the milling and forming arts, material which is cut or otherwise processed is often required to be inspected for adherence to predetermined tolerances. Certification that these dimensions of the piece as milled or processed are within a predetermined range is also often required. However, in the prior art, such certification is typically a manual and time consuming process.  
           [0005]    Numerical or other computerized process controls are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,726 to Pryor for INTELLIGENT MACHINING AND MANUFACTURING is illustrative. Pryor &#39;726 teaches methods and apparatus for “intelligent” control of production processes such as machining, casting, heat treating and welding are disclosed. Pryor &#39;726 uses electro-optical or other suitable sensors, generally non-contact sensors, capable of acquiring data from parts and tools used to produce them in a production “in-process” environment. However, Pryor &#39;726 does not teach concurrent certification of predetermined dimensions during the manufacture of a material such as a metal. Additionally, the electro-optical used for the Pryor &#39;726 is for capturing images. Based of the data captured from the image, the process is performed.  
           [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,970 to Pryor et al. for a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRO-OPTICALLY DETERMING THE DIMENSION, LOCATION AND ATTITUDE OF OBJECTS is similar and teaches a method and apparatus for optic ally determining the dimension of part surfaces such as with optical triangulation based coordinate measurement. Pryor &#39;970 does not teach calculating an adjustment of the moving table on which a material is placed using sensed dimensions and sending signals to each of the stepper motors based on the calculated adjustment. Further, Pryor &#39;970 does not teach or suggest concurrent certification of predetermined dimensions during the manufacture of a material such as a metal.  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,894 to Pryor for SENSOR BASED ASSEMBLY TOOLING IMPROVEMENTS teaches a method and apparatus for assembly particularly addressed to the assembly of automobiles and aircraft done with reconfigurable modular and “intelligent” tooling fixtures (also called jigs, or holding fixtures). Much of the capability of the system is brought by the optical or other non-contact sensing devices incorporated with the tools to provide information on part location, tooling detail location, and automation (such as robots), used to load, weld, rivet, or otherwise perform work with parts in the tool. Ranging and feature location sensors operating in real time perform numerous measurements of location of critical features of assembly tools and the parts placed within them. A computer system associated with the sensors builds up a data base of part condition before, during and after assembly functions. Pryor &#39;894 is primarily directed towards method of joining sheet metal components to form an assembled sheet metal part. Pryor &#39;894 does not disclose calculating an adjustment of the moving table on which a metal is placed using sensed dimensions and sending signals to each of the stepper motors based on the calculated adjustment. Further, Pryor &#39;970 does not disclose concurrent certification of predetermined dimensions during the manufacture of a material such as a metal.  
           [0008]    Therefore, there is a need to be able to control a materials process in real time that additionally certifies in real time that the dimensions of materials as processed meet the tolerances required. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a representative prior art system in partial perspective;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a plan view of an exemplary embodiment of the present inventions, and FIG. 2 a  is a close-up of a guide as used in the exemplary embodiment;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a plan view in partial perspective of a mainframe assembly  102  of the present inventions;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is an alternate plan view in partial perspective of a mainframe assembly of the present inventions;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is a schematic view of display; and  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary automated inspection controller system. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]    As used herein, “material” may be a metal, plastic, glass, paper, organic materials, composites, or other material that can be processed on a milling line. “Processed” is broadly defined to include cutting, shaping, etching, assembling, welding, riveting, progressive dies, stamping, and the like. “Materials processor” is defined to be an apparatus to accomplish this processing. “Milling line” is defined to be a set of apparatuses, including a materials processor, to accomplish this processing.  
         [0017]    The novel features of the present inventions comprise a system that can be adapted to work with existing controllable manufacturing processors and that can obtain one or more predetermined dimensions during a manufacturing process and use those dimensions to simultaneously control the manufacturing process while generating a concurrent certification of the predetermined dimensions during the manufacturing process. In an exemplary embodiment, the present inventions may be installed to cooperatively exist with existing processing machines such as cutting, blanking, multi-blanking and various progressive press machines.  
         [0018]    Referring now to FIG. 1, a plan view of a representative prior art system in partial perspective, material  10  is fed in a direction indicated by arrow  5  on milling line, generally referred to by the numeral “ 1 ” and underneath cutter  20 . Cut piece  11  must be removed, such as to table  7 , to be manually inspected, measured, and certified. Guides  30  may be present to help align material  10  with respect to cutter  20  but are manually adjusted such as with adjuster  3  in one or more directions such as indicated by arrow  6 .  
         [0019]    Referring now to FIG. 2, a plan view of an embodiment of the present system in partial perspective, the automated inspection controller system of the present inventions is generally referred to by the numeral “ 100 .” One or more stepper motors, generally referred to by the numeral “ 50 ” and shown as stepper motor  50   a ,  50   b , and  50   c , may be present and controlled by computer  110 . As more clearly indicated in FIG. 2 a , guides  50  may comprise wheels adjustably mounted and adjustable in at least one plane, such as with a solenoid or cylinder (not shown in FIG. 2 a ).  
         [0020]    One or more sensors, generally referred to by the numeral “ 120 ” such as position sensor  120  are also present and operatively connected to computer  110 . In a preferred embodiment, sensor  120  captures the positioning of the material being processed by contacting the material to be processed. Accordingly, in this preferred embodiment sensor  120  comprises pressure sensors which are at least partially in physical contact with a predetermined portion of the materials to be processed. However, sensor  120  is any sensor capable of detecting the desired measurements, by way of example and not limitation comprising pressure sensors, acoustic sensors, and optical sensors.  
         [0021]    Using a predetermined characteristic of the positioning, which in a preferred embodiment is the intensity of the sensed contact, controller system  100  may make calculations necessary to run stepper motors  50  clockwise or counter-clockwise as well as other adjustments and/or directives for other adjusting devices, by way of example and not limitation such as motors, hydraulics, and/or switches.  
         [0022]    In a preferred embodiment, multiple dimensional measurements are taken in real-time, by way of example indicated as points P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , and P 4 . Accordingly, cut piece  11  does not need to be removed from milling line  1  as shown in FIG. 1 for manual inspection, measurement, and certification.  
         [0023]    Referring now to FIG. 3, a plan view in partial perspective of a mainframe assembly  102  of the present inventions, mainframe  102  may be adapted for installation with presently installed processing machines such as with presently installed milling machines (not shown in FIG. 3 but shown generally as cutter  20  in FIG. 2). Material  10  is fed proximate mainframe  102  in the direction of arrow  5 . Sensors such as sensor  122  and cut sensor  124  may be positioned proximate mainframe  102 . Additionally, gauges such as linear gauge  132  may also be positioned proximate mainframe  102 .  
         [0024]    A sensor  120  such as sensor  122  may be mounted to arm  150  which is fixed relative to mainframe  102 . In a currently preferred embodiment, sensor  122  is protected from environmental conditions such as jostling, pressure, touch, dust, contaminants, and the like, by way of example and not limitation such as being situated within sensor housing  121 . Arm  152  may be movable in at least one plane relative to mainframe  102 . Material  10  may be in communication with arm  152  such that as arm  152  moves, sensor  122  adjustably contacts a portion of material  10  and/or arm  152 . Thus, in a preferred embodiment, sensor  122  may generate a signal that is proportional to the amount of contact of sensor  122  with either arm  152 , material  10 , or both. One or both of arms  152 , as shown in the figure, may be movable.  
         [0025]    Additionally, roller  123  may be positioned proximate to or mounted on arm  152  and contact material  10  to facilitate movement of material  10  with respect to arm  152 . Roller  123  may be constructed of any material suitable for use with material  10  to be milled.  
         [0026]    Referring now to FIG. 4, an alternate plan view in partial perspective of a mainframe assembly  102  of the present inventions, buckling sensor  126  may be positioned proximate mainframe  102 .  
         [0027]    Referring now to FIG. 5, a schematic view of display  140 , automated inspection controller system  100  may further comprise display  140  operatively connected to computer  110 . Various regions of display  140  may be used for presentment of system information, such as at  142 . This information may comprise information regarding the real-time operations and states of computer  110  and other components of automated inspection controller system  100  such as sensors  120  and gauges  130 . Icons or other regions of display  140  may be used to establish control dialogs between system operators and computer  110 , e.g. at  144 . By way of example and not limitation, icons present at  144  may be used to stop or start the system, control one or more stepper motors  50 , and the like.  
         [0028]    Referring now to FIG. 6, a block diagram of an exemplary automated inspection controller system  100 , computer  110  is in communication with various components of automated inspection controller system  100  such as via data communications channels  111 , 112 . Display  140  may additionally be display controller  146  in communication with a plurality of displays  140 .  
         [0029]    In addition to communications with sensors  120  such as cut sensor  124  and buckling sensor  126 , computer  110  interfaces with stepper motor  50  such as via a dedicated stepper motor controller  52 , although stepper motor controller  52  may not be needed if computer  110  is able to communicate directly with stepper motor  50 .  
         [0030]    Additionally, computer  110  may communicate with solenoid valve  60  to control one or more cylinders, shown in FIG. 6 as cylinders  62  and  63 . Cylinders  62 ,  63  may be used to aid in the control of guides  30  (shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 2 a ).  
         [0031]    As will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the computer arts, communications between computer  110  and these various system components may be by any essentially equivalent means, by way of example and not limitation including wired or wireless, synchronous or asynchronous, serial or parallel, common bus or dedicated line, or the like.  
         [0032]    In the operation of an exemplary embodiment, referring again to FIG. 2, material  10  which will be processed such as at cutter  20  is placed onto milling line  2 . Material  10  may be a single piece of material or be part of a larger set of material such as a continuous roll.  
         [0033]    In currently anticipated embodiments, a plurality of stepper motors  50  such as stepper motor  50   a , stepper motor  50   b , and stepper motor  50   c  may be present to help guide material  10  along milling line  2  as cutting progresses. Each stepper motor  50  may additionally have tensioner  30 , such as a spring or pneumatic or hydraulic tensioner, connected to stepper motor  50  to maintain a pressure between stepper motor  50  and material  10  at a predetermined pressure. In FIG. 2 a , this is shown in an exemplary embodiment as a spring loaded wheel.  
         [0034]    Once material  10  is placed onto milling line  2  and stepper motor  50  tensioned, if so configured, computer  110  is initialized and begins to receive data from its various sources including sensors  120 . In certain currently envisioned embodiments, computer  110  interfaces with one or more additional computers or controllers (not shown in the figures) and may thus participate in a coordinated sequencing and control system. Computer  110  may further initialize sensors  120 , gauges  130 , and stepper motors  50 .  
         [0035]    Once initialized, computer  110  receives continuous measurements of one or more predetermined dimensions of material  10 , in a currently preferred embodiment the width of material  10 . These continues measurements may be obtained at predetermined intervals, by way of example and not limitation such as every approximately ten microseconds.  
         [0036]    As computer  110  continues to monitor its sensors  120  for dimension measurements, computer  110  may send signals to stepper motor  50  to rotate stepper motor  50  in a given direction with respect to the predetermined dimension of interest. In a preferred embodiment, computer  110  uses a set of measurements of predetermined ends of the material as processed and their diagonal to calculate an error, if present, in desired dimensions such as with the Pythagorean theorem.  
         [0037]    Additionally, computer  110  may receive data from sensor  120  regarding adherence of the cutting process to the predetermined dimensional parameters of interest. In a preferred embodiment, computer  110  utilizes its obtained sensed measurements to calculate the shape of material  10 , e.g. a coil, and determine a direction and amount of rotation needed by each stepper motor  50  in the system to keep material  110  within acceptable tolerances. Computer  110  further continues to receive data indicative of cutting such as from cutting sensor  124  and gauges such as linear gauge  132 . As required, computer  110  will continue to control stepper motor  50  to continuously adjust material  10  on milling line  2  as material  110  passes cutter  20  to insure that material  10  as cut maintains the predetermined dimensional measurements within acceptable tolerances. In a preferred embodiment, computer  110  calculates adjustments needed for a single X-Y plane of material  10  by calculating a diagonal and width error for each cut.  
         [0038]    In an exemplary embodiment, the predetermined dimensional measurements are indicative of the squareness of the cut piece.  
         [0039]    Additionally, computer  110  may maintain a record of the dimensional measurements to produce a report in real-time of those measurements. The report may be reproduced such as on display  140 , on hard copy such as via a printer (not shown in the figures), via a data communications device such as a fax or e-mail (not shown in the figures), or the like, or combinations thereof.  
         [0040]    In currently preferred embodiments, computer  110  is also able to detect and react to predetermined abnormal conditions. By way of example and not limitation, if material  10  buckles during feeding, buckling sensor  126  may be activated. When activation of buckling sensor  126  is sensed by computer  110 , computer  110  may then take appropriate measures such as removing tension or altering tension from one or more stepper motors  50 . In a similar fashion, the system of the present inventions may also react to material  10  escaping from between guide wheels  30 .  
         [0041]    The present inventions take the data obtained in real-time such as from sensor  120  and use the data to correct processing of the next piece to be processed in real-time. These data may then be listed such as on a hard copy printout and/or on a computer screen such as display  140 . As opposed to the prior art, the present inventions are thus able to create a report in real-time describing the inspected, finished product. By way of example and not limitation, certification reports of the present inventions may include calculated “real-time” statistical process control charts for the operator. Certification reports of the present inventions may further include print outs to provide listings of dimensions of the material as processed and capability process charts for the customers and quality assurance and/or quality certification auditors may be shown on display  140 .  
         [0042]    It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated above in order to explain the nature of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle and scope of the invention as recited in the following claims.