System and method for developing a numerical control manufacturing program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024019848-A1
Application number	US-202217866118-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 15, 2022
Priority date	Jul 15, 2022
Publication date	Jan 18, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for developing a numerical control manufacturing program for a common geometric feature of a first component includes obtaining manufacturing process data for the common geometric feature. The manufacturing process data is associated with one or more numerical control manufacturing processes for the common geometric feature of one or more second components. Each of the one or more second components includes the common geometric feature. The method further includes determining one or more manufacturing constraints for the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component, selecting a numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes, obtaining manufacturing process parameters for the selected one or more numerical control manufacturing processes, and developing the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component. The developed numerical control manufacturing program includes the manufacturing process parameters.

First claim

1 . A method for developing a numerical control manufacturing program for a common geometric feature of a first component, the method comprising:
obtaining manufacturing process data for the common geometric feature, the manufacturing process data associated with one or more numerical control manufacturing processes for the common geometric feature of one or more second components, each of the one or more second components different than the first component, each of the one or more second components including the common geometric feature; determining one or more manufacturing constraints for the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component; selecting a numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes by evaluating the manufacturing process data for each numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes using the one or more manufacturing constraints; obtaining manufacturing process parameters for the selected one or more numerical control manufacturing processes; and developing the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component, the developed numerical control manufacturing program including the manufacturing process parameters.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising manufacturing the common geometric feature of the first component using the developed numerical control manufacturing program.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising collecting the manufacturing process data for the common geometric feature while manufacturing the common geometric feature using the developed numerical control manufacturing program.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more manufacturing constraints includes one or more of a process capability (Cpk) threshold, a process performance (Ppk) threshold, a manufacturing cost threshold, a cycle time threshold, a preferred manufacturing site, or a preferred manufacturer.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the common geometric feature is a surface.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising indexing the common geometric feature in a database by assigning the common geometric feature a unique ID.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising storing the manufacturing process data and the manufacturing process parameters associated with the common geometric feature of the one or more second components as a dataset in the database and assigning the unique ID to the dataset.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected numerical control manufacturing process includes one or more of a wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) process, an abrasive machining process, a broaching process, or a milling process.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the manufacturing process parameters include one or both of computer-aided manufacturing instructions or numerical control manufacturing instructions for the common geometric feature.

10 . A system for developing a numerical control manufacturing program for a common geometric feature of a first component, the system comprising:
a processor; and a non-transitory memory in signal communication with the processor, the non-transitory memory storing instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to:
obtain manufacturing process data for the common geometric feature, the manufacturing process data associated with one or more numerical control manufacturing processes for the common geometric feature of one or more second components, each of the one or more second components different than the first component, each of the one or more second components including the common geometric feature;
obtain one or more manufacturing constraints for the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component;
select a numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes by evaluating the manufacturing process data for each numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes using the one or more manufacturing constraints;
obtain manufacturing process parameters for the selected numerical control manufacturing process; and
develop the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component, the developed numerical control manufacturing program including the manufacturing process parameters.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the non-transitory memory further stores a plurality of 3D component models, the plurality of 3D component models including a first 3D component model of the first component and one or more second 3D component models of the respective one or more second components.

12 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising a database in signal communication with the processor, the database storing the manufacturing process data and the manufacturing process parameters, the non-transitory memory further storing instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to:
identify one or both of the manufacturing process data or the manufacturing process parameters for the common geometric feature using a unique ID assigned to the common geometric feature.

13 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising a numerically-controlled manufacturing device configured to execute the developed numerical control manufacturing program to manufacture, at least in part, the common geometric feature of the first component.

14 . A method for developing a numerical control manufacturing program for a common geometric feature of a first component, the method comprising:
defining the first component using a first 3D component model of the first component, the first 3D component model including the common geometric feature, the common geometric feature indexed in a database using a unique ID; identifying manufacturing process data for the common geometric feature, the manufacturing process data indexed in the database using the unique ID, the manufacturing data associated with one or more numerical control manufacturing processes for the common geometric feature of one or more second components, each of the one or more second components different than the first component, each of the one or more second components including the common geometric feature; selecting a numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes using the manufacturing process data; obtaining manufacturing process parameters for the selected numerical control manufacturing process; and developing the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component, the developed numerical control manufacturing program including at least some of the manufacturing process parameters.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the one or more second components is represented by a respective 3D second component model, each respective 3D second component model stored in the database, each respective 3D second component model including the common geometric feature indexed in the database using the unique ID.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein defining the first component using the first 3D component model includes generating a 3D-model representation of the common geometric feature and assigning the unique ID to the 3D-model representation.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising identifying the common geometric feature of the first component by dete

Assignees

• Pratt & Whitney Canada

Inventors

• Guo Changsheng
• Drouin Laberge Clement
• Jean Joel

Classifications

• G05B19/4181 Primary

  characterised by direct numerical control [DNC] · CPC title

• G05B19/4183

  characterised by data acquisition, e.g. workpiece identification · CPC title

• G05B19/41845

  characterised by system universality, reconfigurability, modularity · CPC title

• G05B19/4097 Primary

  characterised by using design data to control NC machines, e.g. CAD/CAM (G05B19/4093 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G05B2219/35216

  Program, generate nc program, code from cad data · CPC title