Five-axis flank milling system for machining curved surface and toolpath planning method thereof
AssigneeNational Tsing Hua University
InventorsChih-Hsing Chu, Hsin-Ta Hsieh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This invention provides a novel tool path planning method for five-axis flank milling by imposing the constraints of curve interpolation on the tool path. The tool motion is described in the form of spline curves during its optimization-driven calculation process, instead of discrete cutter locations in CNC linear interpolation. The coefficients of the curve equations are generated by minimizing accumulated geometrical errors on the machined surface using optimization algorithms. The continuity imposed by the spline motion reduces uneven modifications of cutter locations during the optimization process. The resultant tool path yields superior.
Claims10
A five axis flank milling system for machining a curved surface using a tool path on a CNC machine tool, comprising:
- an interface device with a data access function;
- a storage device, storing a predetermined machining process and the machining process comprising:
- acquiring machining commands via the data access function;
- determining two curve equations from a curved surface and each equation corresponds to a curve along which the tool center point moves;
- and
- generating a tool path from the two curve equations;
- and
- a control device, connected to the interface device and the storage device, which reads and executes the predetermined machining process from the storage device.
A tool path planning method for a five-axis flank milling system, used for generating a tool path, comprising the following steps:
- accessing machining commands via the interface device;
- accessing the objective of the machining process via the interface device;
- calculating the coefficients of two curve equations using an optimization scheme and each curve equation describes a trajectory of one tool center point;
- and
- generating a CNC tool path from the curve equations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.