US3903392A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Process and apparatus for series production shape-changing processing
Assignee: Steigerwald Strahltecknik GmbH
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Filing: 1970-11-30
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Granted: 1975-09-02
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Expires: 1990-11-30
Abstract
Abstract In series production shape-changing processing by means of a controllable energy beam, particularly an electron beam, in which the workpiece to be processed is moved relative to the beam, the position and/or the shape of the form changes produced by the beam is sensed at at least one location which is spaced from the processing spot, and the sensing signals are utilized for indicating and/or controlling the form changes produced.
Inventors
- 👤 Dieter Konig
- 👤 Klaus Schwefel
- 👤 Oachim Geissler
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 12:55
CPC Classifications
B; B23; B23K; B23K15/00; B23K15/08; B23K15/085; B23K15/0013; B23K26/00; B23K26/36; B23K26/38; B23K26/382; G; G07; G07C; G07C3/00; G07C3/14; H; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/02; H01J37/18; H01J37/30; H01J37/3002; H01J37/3005; H01J37/304; B23K2103/00; B23K2103/30; B23K2103/40; B23K2103/42; B23K2103/50
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 42
Claim 1
Independent Claim
155 words
In apparatus for series production, shape-change processing of workpieces by maens of a controllable energy beam, said apparatus including a controllable beam source for emitting a processing energy beam and for applying said beam to said workpiece at a processing position to produce form changes in said workpiece at successively spaced locations along said workpiece, a workpiece conveying device for moving said workpiece relative to the beam, and means for monitoring the form changes produced in said workpiece at said successively spaced locations by action of the energy beam on said workpiece, the improvement wherein said monitoring device comprises at least one feeler device for sensing at least one geometric characteristic of the form changes produced by the beam at said successively spaced locations, said feeler device being located at a monitoring position spaced from and beyond the processing position and providing at least one monitoring signal indicative of the nature of said geometric characteristic.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
155 words
In apparatus for series production, shape-change processing of workpieces by maens of a controllable energy beam, said apparatus including a controllable beam source for emitting a processing energy beam and for applying said beam to said workpiece at a processing position to produce form changes in said workpiece at successively spaced locations along said workpiece, a workpiece conveying device for moving said workpiece relative to the beam, and means for monitoring the form changes produced in said workpiece at said successively spaced locations by action of the energy beam on said workpiece, the improvement wherein said monitoring device comprises at least one feeler device for sensing at least one geometric characteristic of the form changes produced by the beam at said successively spaced locations, said feeler device being located at a monitoring position spaced from and beyond the processing position and providing at least one monitoring signal indicative of the nature of said geometric characteristic.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
74 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for monitoring said form changes comprises an auxiliary beam source located on one side of the movement path of said workpiece for directing a monitoring energy beam toward a workpiece at the monitoring position, and said feeler device is located on the other side of the movement path and is responsive to the energy of said beam which passes through the workpiece at the monitoring position.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the form changes in the workpiece produced by the processing beam are perforated bores.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
57 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device further comprises a depicting device for producing a visual image of a region of the workpiece at the monitoring position, and said feeler device comprises at least one feeler element located in accordance with at least one desired geometric characteristic of the image produced by said depicting device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said feeler device comprises a plurality of feeler elements located to sense different desired geometric characteristics of said image.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
43 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said plurality of feeler element comprises a first set of feeler elements disposed inwardly and a second set of feeler elements disposed outwardly with respect to a desired outline of said image produced by said depicting device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the depicting device comprises a stroboscopic device.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the image produced by the depicting device is an enlarged image.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising a reference device for indicating at least one desired geometric characteristic of the image produced by said depicting device.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
41 words
The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an evaluating device connected to the output of said feeler device for converting the monitoring signals from the feeler device into control signals for controlling at least one processing parameter of the energy beam.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
46 words
The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing parameters controlled by said evaluatinG circuit include processing beam focus, intensity, deflection, astigmatism, pulse frequency and pulse duration, distribution of energy density in the processing beam, and rate of feed of the workpiece relative to the processing beam.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the monitored workpiece is an auxiliary workpiece separated from the processed workpiece.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the auxiliary workpiece includes at least one sheet-like layer of material, and the processing beam changes a portion of the material of the auxiliary workpiece.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processing beam destroys a portion of the material of the auxiliary workpiece.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising an auxiliary workpiece conveying device for moving the auxiliary workpiece relative to the processing beam in a movement path, at least in the region of the monitoring device, separated from the movement path of the processed workpiece.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
37 words
The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising an auxiliary workpiece processing position separated from the processing position of the workpiece and an auxiliary control device for controllably deflecting the processing beam towards the auxiliary workpiece processing position.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the auxiliary control device controllably deflects the processing beam towards the auxiliary workpiece processing position at predetermined intervals.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the impact region of the auxiliary workpiece processing position is inclined at an angle relative to the impact region of the workpiece processing position.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the feeler device is responsive to the position of the form changes produced by the processing beam.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the feeler device is responsive to the shape of the form changes produced by the processing beam.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
111 words
In a process for series production, shape-change processing of a workpiece at a processing position by means of a controllable energy beam in which the workpiece to be processed is moved relative to the beam, and in which said beam is applied to said workpiece at successively spaced locations along said workpiece to produce form changes therein, the improvement comprising the steps of sensing at a monitoring position along said workpiece spaced from and beyond the processing position, at least one geometric characteristic of the form changes produced by the beam and transforming the sensed geometric characteristic into at least one monitoring signal indicative of the nature of said geometric characteristic.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
111 words
In a process for series production, shape-change processing of a workpiece at a processing position by means of a controllable energy beam in which the workpiece to be processed is moved relative to the beam, and in which said beam is applied to said workpiece at successively spaced locations along said workpiece to produce form changes therein, the improvement comprising the steps of sensing at a monitoring position along said workpiece spaced from and beyond the processing position, at least one geometric characteristic of the form changes produced by the beam and transforming the sensed geometric characteristic into at least one monitoring signal indicative of the nature of said geometric characteristic.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
15 words
The process of claim 21 wherein the shape-change processing comprises the production of perforated bores.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
64 words
The process of claim 21 including the steps of producing a visual image of the region of said workpiece located at the monitoring position, comparing said image with a representation of at least one geometric characteristic of the shape changes desired to be produced by the beam and producing corrective control signals related to the observed deviations between the actual and desired geometric characteristics.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
13 words
The process of claim 23 wherein the image produced is an enlarged image.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
13 words
The process of claim 23 wherein the image is produced as a silhouette.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
26 words
The process of claim 23 wherein the image is produced as a stroboscopic image of a number of workpiece regions located successively at the monitoring position.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
26 words
The process of claim 26 wherein the distance between two successive monitored workpiece regions is a multiple of the desired distance between two shape changes produced.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
22 words
The process fo claim 23 wherein the image is compared with a reference outline indicating the desired geometric characteristic of the image.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
53 words
The process of claim 23 and further comprising the step of correcting the decisive parameters for the mutual spacing of the shape changes produced by the processing operation of response to monitoring signals related to a deviation of the position of the image from the desired position in the direction of workpiece movement.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
50 words
The process of claim 23 and further comprising the step of correcting the decisive parameters for location of the processing operation in response to monitoring signals related to a deviation of the position of the image from the desired position in a direction normal to the direction of workpiece movement.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
42 words
The process of claim 25 and further comprising the step of correcting the decisive parameters for the cross-sectional shape of the processing beam in response to monitoring signals related to bi-directional deviations of the shape of the image from the desired outline.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
34 words
The process of claim 21 wherein the monitoring signal comprises a measuring signal dependent upon at least one dimension of form changes in a workpiece at the monitoring position produced by the processing beam.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
12 words
The process of claim 32 wherein the dimension is a cross-section dimension.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
28 words
The process of claim 32 comprising the further step of adjusting parameters of the processing operation which are decisive for said dimension in response to the measuring signal.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
40 words
The process of claim 21 comprising the further steps of producing form changes in an auxiliary workpiece and passing the form-changed auxiliary workpiece through the monitoring position for apprehension of at least one geometric characteristic of the form changes produced.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
40 words
The process of claim 35 comprising the further steps of locating the auxiliary workpiece at an auxiliary workpiece processing position spaced from the processing position of the workpiece and deflecting the beam at predetermined times to the auxiliary processing position.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
59 words
The process of claim 35 comprising the further steps of moving the auxiliary workpiece together with the workpiece through the processing position, changing the form of the auxiliary workpiece at the processing station by operation of the processing beam, and separating the auxiliary workpiece from the workpiece at least during passage of the auxiliary workpiece through the monitoring position.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
15 words
The process of claim 35 wherein the auxiliary workpiece comprises at least one sheet-like layer.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
27 words
The process of claim 35 wherein the processing beam changes the form of the auxiliary workpiece by destroying a portion of the material of the auxiliary workpiece.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
27 words
The process of claim 35 wherein the processing beam changes the form of the auxiliary workpiece by removing a portion of the material of the auxiliary workpiece.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-09-01 | 1979-03-03 | 1979-09-02 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-09-01 | 1983-03-03 | 1983-09-02 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-09-01 | 1987-03-03 | 1987-09-02 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |