Apparatus, system and methods for cnc material cutting
AssigneeTurf Design, Inc.
InventorsDustin HEADLEY, Tyler VAN KIRK
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Techniques include converting an original or source image into a computer image file that uses guide curves to provide for a cutting of that image onto a surface of a material. One or more techniques comprise creating a computer image file based on the source image, such as by pixelating or rasterizing the image. The process may control a CNC cutting machine to cut the surface of the material at different locations, different angles, different depths, and/or different ranges of motion, based on the processing of the computer image file, thereby creating the original image, or a very close replica, on the surface of the material. By deviating the cut lines from each other, the intensity of the image may be varied.
Claims20
A method of generating an image similar to a source image on a sheet of material, the method comprising:
- creating a computer image file based on a source image, the creation of the computer image file comprising;
- generating a plurality of guide curves based on one or more intensity values of the source image;
- generating at least one control line;
- and
- generating at least one variable line based on at least one of the plurality of guide curves;
- and
- controlling a CNC cutting machine to cut slices of a surface of a sheet of material based on a changing deviation of the at least one variable line from the at least one control line, the changing deviation of the at least one variable line from the at least one control line comprising:
- a portion of maximum deviation of the at least one variable line from the at least one control line, the portion of maximum deviation corresponding to an area of the source image where the intensity value is high;
- and
- a portion of minimum deviation of the at least one variable line from the at least one control line, the portion of minimum deviation corresponding to an area of the source image where the intensity value is low.
A system for generating an image similar to a source image on a sheet of material, the system comprising:
- one or more computers configured to create a computer image file based on a source image, the creation of the computer image file comprising:
- generating a plurality of guide curves based on one or more intensity values of the source image;
- generating at least one control line;
- and
- generating at least one variable line based on at least one of the plurality of guide curves;
- a CNC cutting machine;
- and
- a controller configured to cause the CNC cutting machine to cut slices of a surface of a sheet of material based on a changing deviation of the at least one variable line from the at least one control line, the changing deviation comprising:
- a portion of maximum deviation of the at least one variable line from the at least one control line, the portion of maximum deviation corresponding to an area of the source image where the intensity value is high;
- and
- a portion of minimum deviation of the at least one variable line from the at least one control line, the portion of minimum deviation corresponding to an area of the source image where the intensity value is low.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.