Fly-cutting head, system and method, and tooling and sheeting produced therewith
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsAlan B. Campbell, Dale L. Ehnes, Daniel S. Wertz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fly-cutting system is disclosed, and in particular one that comprises a dynamically-controllable actuator for controlling the position, orientation, or both position and orientation of a cutting element carried by a fly-cutting head. In certain embodiments, the actuator can adjust the position or orientation of a cutting element, or both, hundreds or thousands of times per second, enabling precise control over the shape of features formed by the cutting element in a surface of a workpiece.
Claims22
A method of manufacturing a microreplication tool, the method comprising:
- sending, with a control system, a first set of electronic signals to operate a motorized spindle to rotate a cylindrical workpiece mounted to the motorized spindle;
- sending, with the control system, a second set of electronic signals to operate a continuously rotatable fly-cutting head to form one or more features in the workpiece, the fly-cutting head being rotatable about an axis of rotation, wherein the fly cutting head includes:
- a cutting element mounted to an outer radius of the fly-cutting head;
- and
- a dynamically-controllable actuator, positioned between the axis of rotation and the cutting element and radially spaced from the axis of rotation;
- monitoring, with the control system, angular positions of the fly-cutting head while operating the fly-cutting head;
- sending, based on the monitored angular positions of the fly-cutting head, with the control system, a third set of electronic signals to operate the dynamically-controllable actuator to trace a controllable, predetermined cutting path relative to the position and rotation of the workpiece by changing a position of the cutting element relative to the fly-cutting head during a cutting operation.
A fly-cutting apparatus comprising:
- a motorized spindle for supporting and rotating a workpiece according to command signals from a control system;
- a continuously rotatable fly-cutting head, the fly-cutting head being rotatable about an axis of rotation, wherein the fly-cutting head includes:
- a device mounted to an outer radius of the fly-cutting head, wherein the device is adapted to deform or remove material from a workpiece;
- and
- a dynamically-controllable actuator, positioned between the axis of rotation and the device and radially spaced from the axis of rotation that changes a position of the device relative to the fly-cutting head, during a cutting operation in response to the command signals from the control system, such that the device traces a controllable, predetermined cutting path relative to the position and rotation of the workpiece.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.