Mat cutter with precision stops

A mat cutter including a generally planar work surface for supporting a mat sought to be cut, a guide bar extending across the work surface and spaced from the work surface by a distance sufficient to permit positioning of the mat between the guide bar and the work surface, a carriage slidably supported upon the guide bar for manual movement relative to the work surface, the carriage including a cutting element for cutting the mat situated on the work surface, and at least one precision stop for limiting the extent of manual movement of the carriage along the guide bar, each precision stop comprising:

• an adjustment member aligned generally parallel to the guide bar, a motor coupled to the adjustment member for moving the adjustment member relative to the work surface, a contact member coupled to the adjustment member for positioning by the adjustment member at a selected position for contact by the carriage in a manner limiting the extent of manual movement of the carriage, and an electronic control coupled to the motor for controlling the power supplied to the motor to locate the contact member at a desired location relative to the work surface.

Apparatus for use in combination with a work surface of a manually operated mat cutter, the apparatus comprising:

• a guide bar and a support for coupling the guide bar to a work surface so that the guide bar extends across the work surface and is spaced from the work surface by a distance sufficient to permit positioning of the mat between the guide bar and the work surface, a carriage slidably supported for manual movement along the guide bar, the carriage including a cutting element for cutting a mat situated on the work surface below the guide bar, and at least one precision stop for limiting the extent of manual movement of the carriage along the guide bar, each precision stop comprising:
• an adjustment member aligned generally parallel to the guide bar, a motor coupled to the adjustment member and to the support for moving the adjustment member relative to the guide bar, a contact member coupled to the adjustment member for positioning by the adjustment member at a selected position for contact by the carriage in a manner limiting the extent of manual movement of the carriage, and an electronic control coupled to the motor for controlling the power supplied to the motor to locate the contact member at a desired location relative to the guide bar.

A system for controlling the limits of movement of a manually movable carriage carrying a cutter element on a mat cutter, the mat cutter including a generally planar work surface for supporting a mat sought to be cut, a guide bar extending across the work surface and spaced from the work surface by a distance sufficient to permit positioning of the mat between the guide bar and the work surface, the carriage being slidably supported upon the guide bar for manual movement relative to the work surface, and at least one precision stop for limiting the extent of manual movement of the carriage along the guide bar system, the system comprising:

• an adjustment member aligned generally parallel to the guide bar, a motor coupled to the adjustment member for moving the adjustment member relative to the work surface, a contact member coupled to the adjustment member for positioning by the adjustment member at a selected position for contact by the carriage in a manner limiting the extent of manual movement of the carriage, an electronic control coupled to the motor for controlling the power supplied to the motor to locate the contact member at a desired location relative to the work surface, and an input coupled to the electronic control for receiving dimensional information related to a cut to be made with the cutter element.

A method of cutting a window in a mat with a manually operated cutting head comprising the steps of:

• providing a motor for each of a plurality of adjustable elements on a mat cutting machine,
• providing a control for the motors so that the mat is positioned with respect to the cutting head, and stops are positioned to limit the length of the cut that can be made by the cutting head, and
• placing the mat under the cutting head and moving the cutting head the entire length between the stops to make each cut.