Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Product assembly or manufacturing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-08
2002-03-12
Grant, William (Department: 2121)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Product assembly or manufacturing
C700S088000, C700S180000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06356800
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates first of all to a process and a system for generating or visualizing a control program for a machine tool having at least one sequence of sets of control data for the machining of a workpiece on this machine tool by means of operating units thereof controlled by this control program.
The inventive process serves, in particular, for generating sets of control data of machine tools comprising as operating units several machining units, such as tool carriers, drilling devices, punching slides and workpiece receiving means, wherein the operating units are each equipped with at least one axis of movement and the axes of movement are partially in interpolation relation to one another and preferably controlled by a computerized numerical control which has one or more so-called subsystems or channels. In the case of such complex machine tools it is necessary to divide the machining cycle, in particular, for a complete finishing of a workpiece into individual machining processes running at the same time or some at the same time or also one after the other by way of a reasonable, functional allocation of the various operating units to the individual subsystems or channels of the computerized numerical control in order to keep the production times for the machining of a workpiece as small as possible.
In this respect, it is necessary, in particular, to optimize the control of the operating units by the respective subsystem, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to also coordinate with one another the work of the subsystems operating in parallel.
For this reason, it is necessary, in order to utilize the capacity, in particular, of such complex machines in an optimum manner, to assist a user as well as possible by way of an efficient process and an efficient programming system.
Programming systems are known from the state of the art which are designated as “graphically interactive programming systems”, “autoprogramming systems” or as so-called “WOP systems” and known, for example, from EP-0 642 066 or 0 642 067.
All these processes and systems function, in principle, such that data inputs are required from the user during dialog with the data processing unit in order to generate a control program for the production of a workpiece on a numerically controlled machine tool, wherein the results of the data inputs are graphically shown on a screen for the purpose of control.
The basic concept of these known processes and systems is, however, to be seen in the fact that the control program is always generated by way of selective inputs of data relating to the control program in order to control the operating units via the machine control processing these data in the subsystem respectively allocated thereto, wherein the actions of the operating unit then result in accordance with the individual control data.
On account of the “graphically interactive programming systems” it is no longer necessary to enter sets of control data or sets of numerically controlled data of the control program directly since the “graphically interactive programming systems” make operating dialogs possible which are easily understood but the input data are still related to a control program.
The object underlying the invention is therefore to assist the user as comprehensively as possible during generation of the control program of a machine tool.
This object is accomplished in accordance with the invention, in a process for generating a control program for a machine tool having at least one sequence of sets of control data for the machining of a workpiece on this machine tool by means of operating units thereof controlled by this control program, in that for generating the control program a virtual workpiece and virtual operating units are represented by a data processing unit, that the individual, virtual operating units are addressed by the user and virtual actions specified to them by means of a data input unit and that the actions specified to the individual, virtual operating units are recorded by the data processing unit and the virtual actions specified to the individual, virtual operating units are automatically converted into sets of control data taking into account a predetermined machine and control configuration.
The advantage of the inventive solution is thus to be seen in the fact that in this case the user can generate a control program by merely specifying the actions to be performed by the operating units, i.e. information relating to the workpiece, i.e. the immediate machining cycle, and can thus specify the immediate effect on the workpiece without knowing or needing to keep in mind the machine and control configuration since, with the inventive process, the data processing unit automatically takes the machine and control configuration into account during generation of the sets of control data for the control program, proceeding from the required, virtual actions of the virtual operating units.
This means nothing more than that it is no longer necessary for the user to perform the default options for generation of the control program taking into account the special machine and control configuration, which presupposes that the user knows exactly at any point of time the kinematical conditions of the machine as well as the internal control allocation of operating units and their axes to the corresponding subsystem of the machine control and their dependency. It is, therefore, no longer necessary during generation, for example, of a program part for the control of an operating unit “drilling device” to allocate the information to the correct subsystem of the machine control and, in addition, to take into account the fact that the actions of this operating unit must be adjusted to the actions of other operating units which are allocated to other subsystems in order to avoid collisions between tools and operating units or tools with one another when carrying out machining.
Consequently, the entire complexity inherent in the machine and control configuration is shifted by the inventive solution from the user to the data processing unit and so the user has the possibility of concentrating exclusively on the virtual actions and virtual operating units to be specified.
Particular advantages occur when a user has to work with machines of different configurations since, in this case, he is released from the particular problems of always keeping in mind different machine and control configurations during generation of the respective control program of different machines and of not mixing up these different machine and control configurations.
In principle, it is sufficient in order to realize the inventive process to represent one virtual operating unit and its actions and then allocate the desired actions each time to this one virtual operating unit.
For reasons of the clarity and completeness of the information for the user it is, however, particularly advantageous when all the virtual operating units of the machine tool are represented for the user in accordance with the actual machine configuration in the form of a machine display so that the user can always assess the entire machine tool with the operating units available and, where applicable, being put to use.
In principle, it would be sufficient for the inventive process to represent the operating units and specify the actions thereof, for example, by way of parameter data. It is, however, particularly advantageous when all the virtual operating units and their virtual actions are represented for the user taking into account the machine and control configuration of the machine tool so that the user has, in particular, the possibility of assessing the actions of the operating units and, for example, of thus assessing whether operating units will collide during the specified actions with other operating units or with the workpiece or with other parts of the machine tool.
In principle, it would be possible to provide the representation of the virtual operating units and their virtual actions in a separate procedure. It is, however, p
Lachner Armin
Monz Joachim
Grant William
Lipsitz Barry R.
McAllister Douglas M.
Rodriguez Paul
Traub Drehmaschinen GmbH
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