Non-concentric milling
AssigneeCeleritive Technologies, Inc.
InventorsEvan C. Sherbrooke, Glenn Coleman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Technology for milling selected portions of a workpiece by a cutting tool of a numerical control machine is described. The described technology provides methods and apparatuses for milling areas of a part so that more aggressive machining parameters can be used in the toolpath, thereby resulting in reduced machining time and load. The technology creates a series of toolpath contours where arcs in the toolpath contours are non-concentric with arcs in other toolpath contours. The selected portions of the workpiece are milled by moving the cutting tool in accordance with the toolpath.
Claims12
A method for milling selected portions of a workpiece by a cutting tool of a numerical control machine, the numerical control machine having associated therewith a processor and a memory, the method comprising:
- receiving one or more chains of curves inside a workpiece representing a previously generated toolpath for milling selected portions of a workpiece;
- replacing at least one circular arc in the previously generated toolpath with a sequence of curves containing a new circular arc closer to the boundary of the workpiece to generate a revised toolpath;
- and
- milling the selected portions of the workpiece by moving the cutting tool in accordance with the revised toolpath.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform a method for milling selected portions of a workpiece by a cutting tool of a numerical control machine, the numerical control machine having associated therewith a processor and a memory, the method comprising:
- receiving one or more chains of curves inside a workpiece representing a previously generated toolpath for milling selected portions of a workpiece;
- replacing at least one circular arc in the toolpath with a sequence of curves containing a new circular arc closer to the boundary of the workpiece to generate a revised toolpath;
- and
- causing milling of the selected portions of the workpiece, wherein the milling includes moving the cutting tool in accordance with the revised toolpath.
A system for milling selected portions of a workpiece, comprising:
- a cutting tool associated with a numerical control machine;
- one or more processors associated with the numerical control machine, the one or more processors configured to:
- receive one or more chains of curves inside a workpiece representing a first toolpath for milling selected portions of a workpiece;
- replace at least one circular arc in the toolpath with a sequence of curves containing a new circular arc closer to the boundary of the workpiece to generate a second toolpath;
- and
- cause milling of the selected portions of the workpiece by moving the cutting tool in accordance with the second toolpath.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.