Patent ID: 6852002

Claim:
A waterjet cutting system for cutting a workpiece supported by a structure oriented in an support plane, the system comprising: a cutting head having a high-pressure fluid inlet coupleable to a source of high-pressure fluid, an orifice for generating a cutting jet, and a mixing tube fixed with respect to the cutting head, the cutting head being positionable above the workpiece and controllably movable in an operating plane at least substantially parallel to the support plane; a linear rail extending outwardly with respect to the workpiece in a direction angled with respect to the support plane; a slide member fixedly coupled with respect to the cutting head to move as a unit therewith, and slideably coupled to the linear rail; an actuator having a first portion fixed with respect to the slide member and a second portion fixed with respect to the linear rail, and capable of controllably moving the cutting head in both opposing directions with respect to the linear rail and stopping the cutting head in a substantially unlimited number of independent positions, such that the cutting head can move closer to and further away from the workpiece during operation; a position sensor coupled to the slide member; and a controller operatively coupled to the position sensor and to the actuator, the controller being configured to receive a position signal from the position sensor and transmit a control signal to the actuator, both being possible while the system is cutting a work piece, to allow a gap between the mixing tube and the workpiece to be adjusted during the cutting process.