Patent GB-1131358-A (GB)
Title: Programmed control apparatus, particularly for machine tools
IPC: G05B19/4103
Filed: 1966-10-06
Abstract: 1,131,358. Digital interpolators. CINCINNATI MILLING MACHINE CO. 6 Oct., 1966 [20 Oct., 1965], No. 44789/66. Heading G4A. [Also in Division G3] In a programmed control apparatus, control signals are continuously generated to control a servo mechanism for guiding controlled members simultaneously and continuously along a predetermined path defined by widely spaced successive points on a curve in a given coordinate system, adjacent widely spaced points being represented by one and another digital number word contained on a record, the control signals representing closely spaced points between adjacent widely spaced points on the curve, a record sensing device is connected to a differencing circuit producing a difference number word having a predetermined modulus and corresponding to the difference between adjacent widely spaced points, the differencing circuit being connected through a direction sensing device to interpolation circuits which iteratively add the difference number word the modulus number of times to produce overflow signals, which are combined with the one digital number word in accumulator circuits in accordance with a directional sign signal whereby the one number word is progressively changed into the other digital number word. As shown, Fig. 1, an eight-channel punched tape 18 is read, code converted and checked for parity in a circuit 19 from which binary dimension number words are fed serially, least significant digit first, to a differencing circuit 20. The circuit 20 includes storage for a previously programmed point with which the newly read dimension is compared. A binary difference word is generated, having a sign indicative of direction towards or away from origin of the axes which is serially shifted to a normalizing circuit 21. The newly read dimension is stored in the circuit 20 to be used as the previous point when the next block of information is read from the tape 18. The normalizing circuit eliminates the " zeros " in the most significant digit places until the largest difference number has a " one " in its most significant digit place. The modulus of the difference number words changed, the modulus of a number being defined as the number of finite states that the significant digits of a binary number word can represent, the trailing zeros generated by normalizing being restricted to zero. The normalized difference numbers are then fed to interpolation circuits 22-24, providing overflow signals to accumulator circuits 25-27 which generate a number changing from the point previously read to the succeeding point; the differencing circuit 20 determining whether the overflow is added or subtracted. The accumulators are sampledby periodically connecting certain digits to a multiplier 28 to provide control signals, through a digital to analogue converter 29, for resolver feed-back units 30-32 of the axes servo-loops. The resolvers are connected with circuits 33-35, cyclically operated with the connection of the accumulators to the multiplier, sampling and rectifying their outputs which are then stored in hold circuits 36-38. The hold circuits, through amplifiers 39-41, control the rates of hydraulic motors 42-44, positioning co-ordinate slides 15-17, in dependence on the amplitudes of the stored signals, which are proportional to the rates of accumulation of the overflow signals. The programmed feed-rate is fed to a circuit 45 producing a series of gating signals, having a frequency proportional to the desired feedrate, to an interpolator drive circuit 47. The gating signals are modified by signals, from a circuit 46, which are an approximation to the vector sum of the span lengths. The circuit 47 issues blocks of drive pulses at a rate of repetition which is a function of the modified gating signals. Each block of drive pulses produces a serial addition in the interpolators 22-24. The programmed feed-rate can be manually adjusted and it is stated that the feed-rate can also be modified automatically in dependence on the cutting conditions of the tool. The timing relationships between the elements of the system are maintained by a master oscillator and cycle control 48. The interpolators. Fig. 4, are responsive to the normalized difference word outputs on lines 119-121 from storage registers in circuit 21, (Fig. 1), and to an output on a line 127 from the stage in the zero state of a normalizing shift register having stages set to their one state which correspond to the zero state most significant bit places of that one of the registers of the circuit 20 (Fig. 1) in which the greatest difference number occurs. For the X axis, a start span signal on line 128 sets a gate 131 to transfer the information on line 119 as assertion and negation signals on lines 138, 139 to a difference register 132 of the interpolator. The signal on line 128 also sets a gate 140 to transfer assertion and negation signals to an interpolation control register 143 and, through a gate 144, connects a train of clock pulses on lines 145 from the clock circuit 48, Fig. 1, to a drive line 146 for the interpolators which shifts the information concerning a new span into the interpolators. An iterate command signal on line 147 gates clock pulses 149 to cycle the information in registers 132, 143 and shift the information in a partial sum register 134. The outputs of registers 132, 134 are applied to a serial adder 133 having an output to a NOR circuit 154 providing a negation output to the input of the register 134. At the start of a span the partial sum register 134 is filled with zeros so that after the first iteration the sum stored is the normalized difference number. The second iteration adds the difference from register 132 and when the sum exceeds the capacity of register 134, which is the same as that of register 132, an overflow pulse is derived on line 155 which is fed through a gate 135 to an accumulator 25 (Fig. 1). The iteration is repeated a number of times corresponding to the modulus of the normalized difference number in the register 132, the register 134 will then have been cleared for the next span and the overflows will have equalled the numeric difference between the previous point and the new point. The information in the register 143 determines when the iterations equal the modulus of the normalized difference numbers. An iteration command on line 147 shifts out the value in register 143 to a circuit 157 which subtracts one bit each time the register is cycled through. When the register is zeroed a borrow signal from circuit 157, through gate 160, is fed to a one-pulse detector which provides an end of span signal on line 162, which inhibits gate 148. The end of span signal is connected to a gate 163 whereby an occurrence of an end of block signal from the reader 19 (Fig. 1), through line 19a causes a start new span signal on line 128.