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US 4,740,668 AGranted
Method and apparatus for cutting sheet material using plasma arc cutting tool
AssigneeInvestronica, S.A.
InventorBernardo A. Perez
Life of this patent
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AssigneeInvestronica, S.A.
InventorBernardo A. Perez
Estimating the term…
An apparatus for cutting parts out of a sheet of material including a cutting table, an endless gas permeable conveyor movable in a feed direction along the cutting table for supporting the sheet material thereon, a suction box for applying a vacuum to the conveyor and holding the material firmly against the conveyor during a feeding step and a cutting step, a plasma arc cutter for cutting parts from the material supported on the conveyor and a carriage for supporting the plasma arc cutter and moving it along pattern coordinates of the parts. A brake is mounted on the carriage for selectively engaging the conveyor with the carriage to thereby selectively advance the conveyor along the feed direction. A controller stores pattern coordinates of the parts and controls movement of the carriage and actuation of the brake. The carriage is controlled by the controller to move a distance in a feed direction which is greater than the length of the feed direction of the longest part to be cut from the sheet material during a cutting step. Also, the controller actuates the brake to release engagement between the carriage and the conveyor so that the carriage can be controlled by the controller to move the plasma arc cutter along pattern coordinates of the parts. The apparatus also includes labeling and pickup apparatus located downstream from a cutting zone on the cutting table.
A process for cutting parts out of a sheet of material in which a cutting zone is provided with suction means for holding the sheet of material firmly against a surface of a conveyor located in said cutting zone and in which carriage means for supporting a cutting tool is movable above the cutting zone, the carriage means being controlled by programmed cutting instructions from controller means for moving the cutting tool along pattern coordinates of said parts, wherein the improvement comprises feeding the sheet material to be cut to the cutting zone by means of a gas permeable endless conveyor which comprises said conveyor, the surface of said conveyor supporting said sheet material during cutting thereof, and cutting complete parts out of said sheet material with a plasma arc cutting tool, said feeding of said sheet material being controlled by continuously advancing said conveyor in one step over a distance in a feed direction greater than the length in said feed direction of the longest complete part to be cut from said sheet material during said cutting step, said conveyor being held in a fixed position relative to said cutting zone during said cutting step when said plasma arc cutting tool is moved along said pattern coordinates, said feeding of said sheet material being performed by said carriage means engaging said conveyor and advancing said conveyor over said distance and said cutting of said sheet material being performed by releasing engagement between said carriage means and said conveyor to allow said carriage means to move said cutting tool along said pattern coordinates.
An apparatus for cutting parts out of a sheet of material comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.