Optical pattern tracing system with remotely controlled kerf and forward offsets

An optical pattern tracing system, comprising;

• a frame moveable about two coordinates, power operated means for moving the frame along said two coordinates, a tracing head mounted on the frame, an optical scanner in said tracing head including photosensitive means providing control signals for the power operated means, means for projecting a scan spot in a path upon the pattern about a predetermined scanning radius and about a fixed reference axis, means for shifting the projecting means to offset the scan spot path from the reference axis without varying the scanning radius, and means for generating a speed control signal for the power operated means, said means for shifting the scan spot path being responsive to the speed control signal so that the offset of the scan spot path is automatically varied as the speed of the tracing head is varied.

An optical pattern tracing system, comprising;

• a frame moveable about two coordinates, power operated means for moving the frame along said two coordinates, a tracing head mounted on the frame, an optical scanner in said tracing head including photosensitive means providing control signals for the power operated means, means for projecting a scan spot in a path on the pattern moveable about a reference axis in a scan area, means for shifting the projecting means to offset the scan area from the reference axis in the direction of movement of the tracing head, and means for generating variable speed control signals for the power operated means to control the speed of the tracing head, said means for shifting the projecting means to offset the scan area from the reference axis being continuously responsive to the speed control signals so that the offset of the scan spot path from the reference axis varies continuously with the speed of the tracing head.

An optical pattern tracing system, comprising;

• a frame moveable about two coordinates, power operated means for moving the frame about said two coordinates, a tracing head mounted on the frame, an optical scanner in said scanning head including photosensitive means providing control signals for the power operated means, means for projecting a scan spot in an oscillating arcuate scan path on the pattern about a predetermined scan radius, actuator means in the tracing head for moving the projecting means, and control means for the actuator means for remotely shifting the scan path in a direction opposite the direction of movement of the tracing head during scanning without varying the radius of scan to reduce the effective forward offset of the scan path during slow speed travel of the tracing head.

An optical pattern tracing system, comprising;

• a frame moveable in two coordinate directions, first and second servo-motor means for driving the frame in said two coordinate directions, a tracing head fixedly mounted on the frame, an optical scanner in said tracing head including photosensitive means for providing control signals for the first and second servo-motor means, a reflective scanning element in said tracing head mounted for pure nutational movement without rotation about two perpendicular axes to project a moving scan spot in a path on the pattern, first coil means providing pivotal movement of the scanning element about one of said perpendicular axes, second coil means providing pivotal movement of the reflective element about the other of said perpendicular axes, and means for simultaneously energizing the first and second coil means to cause oscillating movement of the reflective element to produce an oscillating scan spot path on the pattern.

An optical pattern tracing system, comprising;

• a frame moveable in two coordinates, power operated means for moving the frame along the two coordinates, a tracing head carried by the frame, an optical scanner in said tracing head including photosensitive means for providing control signals for the power operated means, a pivotally mounted reflective element for projecting a scan spot path on the pattern, and a source of light, said reflective element being mounted to project light from the source onto the pattern to facilitate location of the scan position on the pattern.

An optical pattern tracer, comprising;

• a frame mounted for movement along two coordinates, a first servo-motor for moving the frame along one of the coordinates, a second servo-motor for moving the frame along the other of said coordinates, a tracing head non-rotatably mounted on the frame, an optical scanner mounted in the tracing head providing control signals for the first and second servo-motors including a photosensitive element, a pivotally mounted mirror in said tracing head for projecting a scan spot onto the pattern to be traced, means mounting the mirror for pure nutational motion without rotation, first coil means for pivotally moving the mirror in one plane, second coil means for pivotally moving the mirror in a plane perpendicular to said one plane, a sine/cosine resolver, said sine/cosine resolver being responsive to the photosensitive element for providing first drive signals for the first servo-motor and a second drive signal for the second servo-motor, means for generating and applying a first alternating signal to the first coil means, and means for generating and applying a second alternating signal to the second coil means to drive the mirror in pure nutation about a scan axis to provide a generally circular scan path on the pattern.

An optical pattern tracer, comprising;

• a frame mounted for movement along two coordinates, power operated means for moving the frame along the two coordinates, an optical scanning assembly for scanning the pattern and providing control signals for the power operated means, said scanning assembly including an optical deflector having pure nutating motion without rotation for projecting a scan spot in a circular path on the pattern.

An optical pattern tracing system, comprising;

• a frame moveable about two coordinates, power operated means for moving the frame along said two coordinates, a non-rotatable tracing head mounted on the frame, an optical scanner in said tracing head including photosensitive means providing control signals for the power operated means, means for projecting a scan spot in a path upon the pattern a predetermined distance from and about a scan axis, and means for shifting the projecting means during scanning to offset the scan spot path and the scan axis with respect to a reference axis of the tracing head without changing the distance between the scan spot path and the scan axis.

An optical pattern tracing system, comprising;

• a frame moveable about two coordinates, power operated means for moving the frame along said two coordinates, a tracing head mounted on the frame, an optical scanner in said tracing head having an optical axis including photosensitive means providing control signals for the power operated means, means for projecting a scan spot in a path upon the pattern, and a lens in the tracing head having a focal plane containing the projecting means for passing light rays from the projecting means parallel to the optical axis so that variations in the tracing head to pattern distance do not affect the accuracy of the system.

In an optical pattern tracing system of the type having a frame moveable about two coordinates, with power operated means for moving the frame along the two coordinates, a non-rotatable tracing head and control system comprising;

• an optical scanner in the tracing head including photosensitive means providing control signals for the power operated means, means for projecting a moving scan spot in a path upon the pattern a predetermined distance from a fixed reference in the tracing head, actuator means in the tracing head for moving the projecting means, and control means spaced from the tracing head for the actuator means for shifting the projecting means to offset the scan spot path from the reference axis without varying the size and shape of the scan path.