Electricity: motive power systems – Positional servo systems – Program- or pattern-controlled systems
Patent
1986-05-09
1987-11-10
Shoop, Jr., William M.
Electricity: motive power systems
Positional servo systems
Program- or pattern-controlled systems
364192, 364193, 364134, 318569, G05B 1910
Patent
active
047060026
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a numerical control unit for numerically controlling an industrial machine and, more particularly, to a programmable numerical control unit which is capable of on-site creation and entry of a machining program.
Generally, a numerical control unit (referred to as a NC unit) of the kind that finds wide use in the art is adapted to create an NC tape containing a machining program, and to read the tape by means of a tape reader mounted on the NC unit to enter the machining program. NC units also include so-called manual NC units which are simple in construction and make no use whatsoever of a tape reader. In a manual NC unit, positioning or cutting data is preset on a number of dials mounted on the panel of the NC unit which, subsequently, reads the positioning or cutting data from the dials in successive fashion to execute numerical control processing. Alternatively, numerical data may be entered successively from an MDI (manual data input device) and stored in memory, after which the NC unit reads out the numerical data successively to perform numerical control processing. Thus, a manual NC unit is characterized in that (1) direct programming is performed at the job site while the programmer observes his machining drawing, (2) the program data is entered by means of the dials or MDI, and (3) the machine tool is made to perform an actual machining operation based on this data.
In such conventional manual NC units, however, programming is extremely difficult, machining efficiency is poor because of the considerable time required for programming, and input errors are common. Though manual NC units have been proposed which enable easy programming from machining drawings in a shorter period of time and with fewer errors, these proposed manual NC units are not always fully effective in shortening the time required for programming, even though the time required is less than in the prior art. In addition, control of machining performed by a machine tool cannot be carried out while programming is in progress. A serious disadvantage even with these proposed manual NC units, therefore, is that machining efficiency is poor.
Furthermore, since a manual NC unit does not, by nature, possess such data input/output equipment as a tape reader/puncher and bubble memory cassette there is no way to preserve for possible future use a machining program created through painstaking effort, and no way to enter NC program data from an external storage medium. Thus, an NC unit of this type is inefficient since NC data must be created with each use, even though the identical machining operation may be performed at some future date.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a manual NC unit which enables a machine tool to be controlled even while programming is in progress.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a manual NC unit with which a machining program can be preserved and entered.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive manual NC unit which, instead of being specially equipped with an input/output unit, merely includes a connector for connection to an external input/output unit.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a manual NC unit, wherein data can be exchanged among a machining program creation side, a machining control side and an external input/output unit, wherein a created machining program or a machining program that has just been used to complete contrl of a machining operation can be preserved in an external storage medium as required, and wherein the preserved machining program can be applied as an input to the machining control side.
According to the present invention, a numerical control unit is provided with a program creating device having input means for entering data for the creation of a machining program, a first processor for creating a machining program in accordance with the entered data, and a first memory for storing the created machining
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International Application 8 203 933.
Fanuc Ltd.
Keane Patrick C.
Shoop Jr. William M.
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