Robot cutting system

摘要

A computer-controlled robot cutting system for making angled or beveled cuts along a preselected path in a workpiece having a generally planar cutting surface. A cutting knife, such as a high-intensity fluid jet, is pivotably mounted in a support frame having two pairs of arcuate guides disposed at right angles to each other for motor-driven rotation of the cutting knife about orthogonal axes. The centers of curvature of both guides lie on a critical plane containing a pivot point about which the cutting knife pivots. An opposing workpiece gantry with horizontal and vertical slides for motor-driven translation of the workpiece along two axes also includes means for holding the workpiece such that its surface to be cut faces the cutting knife and lies in the critical plane. The workpiece is thus translated to define the cutting path on the obverse surface, while the cutting knife is pivoted to define the entry angle of the cut along the cutting path. Four motion controllers under computer control coordinate the motors driving each axis of rotation or translation. Because the obverse cutting surface of the workpiece is maintained in the critical plane containing the pivot point, pivoting of the knife does not change its entry point in the cutting surface, thereby simplifying motion control algorithms. Furthermore, because the cutting knife is pivoted and the workpiece is translated, the relatively massive gearing and movable frame structures are distributed between the cutting knife section and the workpiece gantry, lowering the inertia and enabling the use of lighter-duty motors.