Apparatus for the simultaneous machining of a material moving with relative motion with respect to the tools, in particular for cutting up a plate of glass

Claim 2

Apparatus with several tools for the simultaneous machining of a material moving with relative motion with respect to the tools, said apparatus to be used in particular for cutting a glass plate to size and comprising a support table for supporting the material and a bridge extending over said table and carrying several tool carrier units displaceable in longitudinal direction by power drive, characterized by the fact, that a drive means is provided to drive a displacing means transversely to the direction of machining, the individual tool carrier units being connected through disengageable clutches with said displacing means at preset distances from one another, said tool carrier units comprising stopping devices, the stopping devices serve as release mechanisms and are capable of developing a stopping force greater than the holding force of the clutches.

Claim 3

Apparatus with several tools for the simultaneous machining of a material moving with relative motion with respect to the tools, said apparatus to be used in particular for cutting a glass plate to size and comprising a support table for supporting the material and a bridge eXtending over said table and carrying several tool carrier units displaceable in longitudinal direction by power drive, characterized by the fact, that a drive means is provided to drive a displacing means transversely to the direction of machining, the individual tool carrier units being connected through disengageable clutches with said displacing means at preset distances from one another, further comprising an automatic control device for setting the tool carrier units to the desired machining distances, characterized by an input unit for inputting the machining distances; an operation control unit connected to the input unit; a first counter connected to the operation control unit for summing up elements of distance and adding up machining distances; a second counter connected to the operation control unit and to the first counter and running synchronously with the latter, and serving the purpose of summing up elements of distance until the value of the distance between the tool carrier units is reached; a shift register connected to the second counter, each of its storage registers being connected with one of the tool carrier units, and operating in such a way that after each complete pass of the second counter a shift to the next storage register takes place; a third counter for summing-up elements of distance until the magnitude of the distance between the tool carrier units is reached and a memory for each tool carrier unit, said memory storing a pulse from the second counter if the associated storage register of the shift register is switched on and, at the same time, the first counter has reached the end of a machining distance; a stepping motor for driving the displacing means, said motor being controlled by the operation control unit and connected with the third counter to drive the latter counter by means of step pulses proportional to the count setting, one of the tool carrier units being disconnected from the displacing means as soon as its stored pulse count is equal to the count set on the third counter.

Claim 4

Apparatus with several tools for the simultaneous machining of a material moving with relative motion with respect to the tools, said apparatus to be used in particular for cutting a glass plate to size and comprising a support table for supporting the material and a bridge eXtending over said table and carrying several tool carrier units displaceable in longitudinal direction by power drive, characterized by the fact, that a drive means is provided to drive a displacing means transversely to the direction of machining, the individual tool carrier units being connected through disengageable clutches with said displacing means at preset distances from one another, further comprising an automatic control device for setting the tool carrier units to the desired machining distances, characterized by an input unit for inputting the machining distances; an operation control unit connected to the input unit; a first counter connected to the operation control unit for summing up elements of distance and adding up machining distances; a second counter connected to the operation control unit and to the first counter and running synchronously with the latter, and serving the purpose of summing up elements of distance until the value of the distance between the tool carrier units is reached; a shift register connected to the second counter, each of its storage registers being connected with one of the tool carrier units, and operating in such a way that after each complete pass of the second counter a shift to the next storage register takes place; a third counter for summing-up elements of distance until the magnitude of the distance between the tool carrier units is reached and a memory for each tool carrier unit, said memory storing a pulse from the second counter if the associated storage register of the shift register is switched on and, at the same time, the first counter has reached the end of a machining distance; a stepping motor for driving the displacing means, said motor being controlled by the operation control unit and connected with the third counter to drive the latter counter by means of step pulses proportional to the count setting, one of the tool carrier units being disconnected from the displacing means as soon as its stored pulse count is equal to the count set on the third counter.

Claim 5

Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the input unit comprises two sets of setting devices alternately connectable with the operation control device.

Claim 8

The apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said clutches are arranged at said displacement means so as to possess substantially the same spacing from one another.

Claim 9

The apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said clutches are constructed such that upon displacement of the displacement means into the starting position all of the tool carrier units are entrained.

Claim 10

The apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said clutches comprise permanent magnetic clutches having interengaging components retained against one another by magnetic force and disengageable from one another by the application of a force having a magnitude greater than sAid magnetic force and a direction opposed to said magnetic force.

Claim 11

The apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein the tool carrier units incorporate stopping devices capable of developing a stopping force greater than the holding force of the clutches.

Claim 12

The apparatus as defined in claim 4, further including means for adjusting a tool carrier unit for the performance of a reference machining operation serving as a reference magnitude.

Claim 13

The apparatus as defined in claim 5, further including means for adjusting a tool support unit for carrying out a reference machining operation serving as a reference magnitude, said reference machining-adjustment means comprising an adjustment device arranged between the drive means and the displacing means, said adjustment device serving to adjust the displacement means such that the reference machining-tool support unit can be brought into a reference machining position.

Claim 14

The apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein each tool carrier unit carries a primary tool and a secondary tool, said secondary tool being located at a fixed distance from the primary tool and being actuatable independently therefrom.

Claim 15

The apparatus as defined in claim 9, comprising an automatic control device for setting the tool carrier units to the desired machining distances, characterized by an input unit for inputting the machining distances; an operation control unit connected to the input unit; a first counter connected to the operation control unit for summing up elements of distance and adding up machining distances; a second counter connected to the operation control unit and to the first counter and running synchronously with the latter, and serving the purpose of summing up elements of distance until the value of the distance between the tool carrier units is reached; a shift register connected to the second counter, each of its storage registers being connected with one of the tool carrier units, and operating in such a way that after each complete pass of the second counter a shift to the next storage register takes place; a third counter for summing-up elements of distance until the magnitude of the distance between the tool carrier units is reached and a memory for each tool carrier unti, said memory storing a pulse from the second counter if the associated storage register of the shift register is switched on and, at the same time, the first counter has reached the end of a machining distance; a stepping motor defining said drive means for driving the displacement means, said motor being controlled by the operation control unit and connected with the third counter to drive the latter counter by means of step pulses proportional to the count setting, one of the tool carrier units being disconnected from the displacement means as soon as its stored pulse count is equal to the count set on the third counter.

Claim 16

The apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the input unit embodies an input element for the reference machining-adjustment means, said input element acting via the operation control unit directly at the stepping motor, and said tool carrier unit for the performance of the reference machining operation by means of said adjusting means can be disconnected and actuated directly by the operating control unit via said adjusting means.

Claim 17

The apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the input unit comprises two sets of setting devices which are alternately connectable with the operation control device.