Boots – shoes – and leggings
Patent
1996-01-11
1999-02-02
Elmore, Reba I.
Boots, shoes, and leggings
36447005, 36447415, 36447426, G06F 1900
Patent
active
058673920
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method of performing plotting or cutting along predetermined paths on a material.
The invention is particularly applicable to plotters and engraving or cutting machines in which plotting or cutting corresponding to predetermined drawings is performed on a material by means of relative displacement between the material and a tool, such as a writing, engraving, or cutting tool.
The invention relates more precisely to machines that include a working zone or table on which plotting, engraving or cutting is performed by displacing the tool relative to the material in two directions within the working zone successive portions of the material being fed into the working zone under the action of a control circuit that is separate from the control circuit of the tool.
This applies in particular to numerically-controlled cutting machines used for cutting fabrics, felts, leathers, or other flexible sheet materials in the clothing industry, the furniture industry, etc. In such machines, cutting may be performed for example by means of a vibrating blade, a cutting wheel, a laser beam, or a water jet under pressure carried by a cutting head which is displaced relative to the material within the working zone in two different directions. The material may be disposed in superimposed layers forming a lay-up so that cutting can be performed through a plurality of layers simultaneously.
The pieces are cut out following a predetermined layout which is defined so as to minimize wasted material. In order to limit the size of the machines, the working zone in which cutting is performed may have a length that is less than that of an entire layout while having a width that is equal to that of the material.
In order to cut out all of the pieces in a layout, it is therefore necessary to cause the sheet material to advance intermittently so as to bring new portions of the material into the working zone, with material advance being controlled separately from cutting head displacement.
The same applies to numerically-controlled plotters that print on a continuous material (paper or some other sheet material) and that include a table XY on which plotting is performed by displacing a writing tool in two different directions, which are often orthogonal, the table having a length, in the longitudinal direction of the continuous material, that is shorter than the length taken up by a drawing or a set of drawings to be reproduced.
In such known machines, the material is caused to advance after all of the required plotting or cutting-out has been performed on that portion of the material which is situated in the working zone, the tool being in the rest position during material advance. The material is caused to advance over a length substantially corresponding to the length of the working zone, so as to bring a new portion of the material into the working zone.
A drawback with such prior art machines is that productivity is lost due to the plotting or cutting-out operations being interrupted while the material advances.
In order to reduce such loss of productivity, it is possible to cause the material to advance as quickly as possible. However, this subjects the material to stresses, and with thin and flexible materials, such stresses can cause the material to slip or cause creases to form therein, thereby reducing the accuracy of plotting or cutting-out. Furthermore, since each time the material advances, it does so over the length of the working zone, it is necessary to provide an unloading zone that is of at least the same length, which poses problems of cost, of compactness, and of accessibility;
Suggestions have been made in principle to avoid loss of productivity by not interrupting the work of the tool during material advance. To this end, reference can be made to Document FR-A-2 640 202.
However, the working region of the tool is then limited to the new portions of material that are progressively brought into the working zone during advance, and the velocity component of the tool in the longitudinal di
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Brown Thomas E.
Elmore Reba I.
Lectra Systemes
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