Numerical controller enabling input of relative tool direction to workpiece

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9454146-B2
Application number	US-201414571360-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2014
Priority date	Dec 20, 2013
Publication date	Sep 27, 2016
Grant date	Sep 27, 2016

Abstract

A numerical controller controls a five-axis machining machine that machines a workpiece attached to a table with three linear axes and two rotary axes. The numerical controller inputs a relative tool direction that represents a relative position of the tool direction with respect to the workpiece after the rotary axes are moved by a manual operation, as a vector, roll-pitch-yaw angles, or Euler angles. The numerical controller further converts the relative tool direction thus input into the rotary axis positions of the two rotary axes and drives the two rotary axes based on the rotary axis position thus converted.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A numerical controller controlling a five-axis machining machine that machines a workpiece attached to a table with three linear axes and two rotary axes, the numerical controller comprising:
a relative tool direction input unit that inputs by a manual operation a relative tool direction representing a relative position of the tool direction with respect to the workpiece after the rotary axes are moved, as a vector, roll-pitch-yaw angles, or Euler angles; and
a rotary-axis position conversion unit that converts the relative tool direction into the rotary axis positions of the two rotary axes,
wherein the numerical controller drives the two rotary axes based on the rotary axis positions.

2. The numerical controller according to claim 1 , wherein the two rotary axes are two rotary axes for table rotation and the five-axis machining machine is a table-rotation type five-axis machining machine.

3. The numerical controller according to claim 2 , wherein one out of the two rotary axes is a tilted rotary axis that is not horizontal to the three linear axes.

4. The numerical controller according to claim 1 , wherein the two rotary axes are two rotary axes for tool head rotation and the five-axis machining machine is a tool head rotation type five-axis machining machine.

5. The numerical controller according to claim 4 , wherein one out of the two rotary axes is a tilted rotary axis that is not horizontal to the three linear axes.

6. The numerical controller according to claim 1 , wherein, out of the two rotary axes, one is a rotary axis for table rotation and the other is a rotary axis for tool head rotation, and the five-axis machining machine is a mixed type five-axis machining machine including one rotary axis for table rotation and one rotary axis for tool head rotation.

7. The numerical controller according to claim 6 , wherein one out of the two rotary axes is a tilted rotary axis that is not horizontal to the three linear axes.

8. The numerical controller according to claim 1 , wherein one out of the two rotary axes is a tilted rotary axis that is not horizontal to the three linear axes.

Assignees

• Fanuc Corp

Inventors

• Abe Kimio

Classifications

• G05B19/19 Primary

  characterised by positioning or contouring control systems, e.g. to control position from one programmed point to another or to control movement along a programmed continuous path · CPC title

• G05B2219/35415

  3-D three dimension, space input, spaceball · CPC title

• G05B19/4086 Primary

  Coordinate conversions; Other special calculations · CPC title

• G05B2219/35434

  Enter part geometry and manually control path free, directly, real time, cutting · CPC title

• G05B2219/33003

  Algorithm, hashing algorithm · CPC title