# US 10,369,647 B2 · Wire electrical discharge machine and wire electrical discharge machining method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,369,647 B2 - Document ID: US10369647B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/475,273 - Filed: 2017-03-31 - Published: 2017-10-05 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2016-04-01 - Assignees: Fanuc Corporation - Applicants: Fanuc Corporation - Inventors: Shouta Irie; Kaoru Hiraga - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10369647B2 ## CPC - B23H 11/00: Auxiliary apparatus or details, not otherwise provided for - B23H 7/02: Wire-cutting - B23H 7/20: for program control, e.g. adaptive - B25J 9/1697: {Vision controlled systems} - G05B 2219/45043: EDM machine, wire cutting - B23H: WORKING OF METAL BY THE ACTION OF A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF ELECTRIC CURRENT ON A WORKPIECE USING AN ELECTRODE WHICH TAKES THE PLACE OF A TOOL; SUCH WORKING COMBINED WITH OTHER FORMS OF WORKING OF METAL (processes for the electrolytic or electrophoretic production of coatings, electroforming, or apparatus therefor C25D; processes for the electrolytic removal of material from objects C25F; manufacturing printed circuits using precipitation techniques to apply the conductive material to form the desired conductive pattern H05K3/18) - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) ## Abstract A wire electrical discharge machine and a wire electrical discharge machining method are provided. The wire electrical discharge machine is equipped with a core position recognizing unit configured to recognize the position of a core which is fixed by a core fixing function, a core removal unit configured to remove the core, which is in the recognized position, from a workpiece on which machining has been performed, and a core removal determining unit configured to determine whether or not the core in the recognized position has actually been removed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A wire electrical discharge machine comprising: a wire electrode and a workpiece movable relative to each other according to a machining program to carry out electrical discharge machining on the workpiece by an electrical discharge generated between the wire electrode and the workpiece, the wire electrical discharge machine having a core fixing function for fixing a core, which is formed by the electrical discharge machining, to a base material of the workpiece by attachment and deposition of machining chips generated as a result of the electrical discharge machining; a core position recognizing unit configured to recognize a position of the core which is fixed by the core fixing function during execution of the machining program; a core removal unit configured to remove the core, which is in the position recognized by the core position recognizing unit, from the workpiece during execution of the machining program; and a core removal determining unit configured to determine whether or not the core, which is in the position recognized by the core position recognizing unit, has actually been removed by the core removal unit during execution of the machining program, wherein the core position recognizing unit includes an image capturing unit configured to acquire a captured image showing the workpiece, and recognizes the position of the core from the captured image acquired by the image capturing unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the core position recognizing unit detects from within the captured image acquired by the image capturing unit a machining groove having a fixed width or a width within an allowable range with respect to the fixed width, and recognizes a location surrounded by the machining groove as the position of the core. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the core removal unit includes a robot. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the core removal unit presses a portion of the workpiece from one direction so as to remove the core. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the core removal determining unit includes an image capturing unit configured to acquire a captured image showing the workpiece, and determines whether or not the core has been removed from the captured image acquired by the image capturing unit. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the core removal determining unit includes a contact detecting unit configured to detect contact with the workpiece, and determines whether or not the core has been removed from a detection state of the contact detecting unit at the position recognized by the core position recognizing unit. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 1, wherein the image capturing unit is mounted on a robot, and is configured to be movable integrally with the robot. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 5, wherein the core removal determining unit determines whether or not the core has been removed from a comparison between a color of an image region corresponding to the position of the core, and a color of an image region showing the base material, from within the captured image acquired by the image capturing unit. ### Claim 9 A wire electrical discharge machining method comprising: providing a wire electrode and a workpiece movable relative to each other according to a machining program to carry out electrical discharge machining on the workpiece by an electrical discharge generated between the wire electrode and the workpiece, a core fixing function for fixing a core, which is formed by the electrical discharge machining, to the workpiece by attachment and deposition of machining chips generated as a result of the electrical discharge machining; a recognizing step of recognizing a position of the core which is fixed by the core fixing function during execution of the machining program; a removing step of removing the core, which is in the position recognized by the recognizing step, from the workpiece during execution of the machining program; and a determining step of determining whether or not the core, which is in the position recognized by the recognizing step, has actually been removed in the removing step during execution of the machining program, wherein in the recognizing step, the position of the core is recognized from a captured image acquired by an image capturing unit and showing the workpiece. ### Claim 10 A wire electrical discharge machine comprising: a wire electrode and a workpiece movable relative to each other according to a machining program, and electrical discharge machining is carried out on the workpiece by an electrical discharge generated between the wire electrode and the workpiece, the wire electrical discharge machine having a core fixing function for fixing a core, which is formed by the electrical discharge machining, to a base material of the workpiece by attachment and deposition of machining chips generated as a result of the electrical discharge machining; a core position recognizing unit configured to recognize a position of the core which is fixed by the core fixing function during execution of the machining program; a core removal unit configured to remove the core, which is in the position recognized by the core position recognizing unit, from the workpiece during execution of the machining program; and a core removal determining unit configured to determine whether or not the core, which is in the position recognized by the core position recognizing unit, has actually been removed by the core removal unit during execution of the machining program, wherein the core removal determining unit includes an image capturing unit configured to acquire a captured image showing the workpiece, and determines whether or not the core has been removed from the captured image acquired by the image capturing unit. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The wire electrical discharge machine according to claim 10, wherein the core removal determining unit determines whether or not the core has been removed from a comparison between a color of an image region corresponding to the position of the core, and a color of an image region showing the base material, from within the captured image acquired by the image capturing unit. ### Claim 12 A wire electrical discharge machining method comprising: providing a wire electrode and a workpiece movable relative to each other according to a machining program to carry out electrical discharge machining the workpiece by an electrical discharge generated between the wire electrode and the workpiece, a core fixing function for fixing a core, which is formed by the electrical discharge machining, to the workpiece by attachment and deposition of machining chips generated as a result of the electrical discharge machining, a recognizing step of recognizing a position of the core which is fixed by the core fixing function during execution of the machining program: a removing step of removing the core, which is in the position recognized by the recognizing step, from the workpiece during execution of the machining program; and a determining step of determining whether or not the core, which is in the position recognized by the recognizing step, has actually been removed in the removing step during execution of the machining program, wherein the recognizing step is determined whether or not the core has been removed from a captured image showing the workpiece and acquired by the image capturing unit.