Fly-cutting head, system and method, and tooling and sheeting produced therewith

摘要

A fly-cutting system is disclosed, and in particular one that comprises a dynamically-controllable actuator for controlling the position, orientation, or both position and orientation of a cutting element carried by a fly-cutting head. In certain embodiments, the actuator can adjust the position or orientation of a cutting element, or both, hundreds or thousands of times per second, enabling precise control over the shape of features formed by the cutting element in a surface of a workpiece.

主权项

1. A fly-cutting apparatus comprising:
a motorized spindle for supporting and rotating a workpiece according to command signals from a control system; a rotatable shaft that is continuously rotatable about an axis of rotation; and a continuously rotatable fly-cutting head that is mounted to the rotatable shaft, wherein the fly-cutting head includes:
a first tool holder for securing a first device to the fly cutting head, wherein the first device is adapted to deform or remove material from a workpiece;a first dynamically-controllable actuator, positioned between the axis of rotation at the head and the first tool holder and radially spaced from the axis of rotation, that creates motion that changes the radial position of the first tool holder in response to the command signals from the control system, relative to the axis of rotation of the rotatable shaft during a cutting operation such that the first tool holder traces a first controllable, predetermined cutting path relative to the position and rotation of the workpiece, wherein the first actuator can vary a depth of the first device by varying the radial position of the first tool holder while the first device is forming one or more features in the workpiece by deforming or removing material from the workpiece; a second tool holder for securing a second device to the fly cutting head, wherein the second device is adapted to deform or remove material from the workpiece; and a second dynamically-controllable actuator, positioned between the axis of rotation at the head and the second tool holder and radially spaced from the axis of rotation, that creates motion that changes the radial position of the second tool holder in response to the command signals from the control system, relative to the axis of rotation of the rotatable shaft during the cutting operation such that the second tool holder traces a second controllable, predetermined cutting path relative to the position and rotation of the workpiece, wherein the second actuator can vary a depth of the second device by varying the radial position of the second tool holder while the second device is forming one or more features in the workpiece by deforming or removing material from the workpiece, and a third dynamically-controllable actuator, positioned between the head and the first tool holder, wherein the third actuator can vary position of the first tool holder along a different axis than the first actuator.