User control interface for laser simulating sandblasting apparatus
AssigneeTechnolines LLC
InventorsClarence H. Martin, Darryl J. Costin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A laser system for processing surfaces of a variety of materials. The amount of laser treatment received by a surface and the geometry are controlled by an impact frequency matrix that is programmed into a control computer. The control computer can control a scanning laser beam to simulate the statistically random property of the particle distribution in a sandblasting process to generate a feathered worn look.
Claims20
A sandblasting simulating apparatus, comprising:
- a laser system, producing a laser beam which moves relative to a surface of a material to mark a pattern on said material according to an applied command;
- a controller connected to said laser system and configured to communicate with said laser system to generate said applied command according to information indicative of said pattern, said information including a pseudo-random characteristic which simulates a sandblasted effect;
- and
- a user control interface which includes a user input device and a display, said user control interface connected to said controller and configured to produce a graphic representation of said pattern based on said information on said display prior to actually processing said material with said laser system and to allow for modification of said laser impact frequency information.
A method of simulating a sandblasting pattern using laser processing, comprising:
- forming a probability density matrix indicative of geometry and appearance of the sandblasting pattern;
- correlating a set of pseudo-random numbers with said probability density matrix to generate an impact frequency matrix;
- and
- generating laser control codes based on said impact frequency matrix.
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
- form a probability density matrix indicative of geometry and appearance of a sandblasting pattern;
- correlate a set of pseudo-random numbers with said probability density matrix to generate an impact frequency matrix;
- and
- generate laser control codes based on said impact frequency matrix.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.