Die accelerator

Claim 1

A method of coordinating the movement of a die relative to material moving in a given path so that the die and a selective point on the material will arrive simultaneously at a cutoff position while moving at identical velocities including the steps of: selecting a point on the moving material, measuring, at regular length increments, the position of said point relative to a starting position, developing signals from said measurements indicative of the position of said point, utilizing said signals indicative of the position of said point to compute, in accordance with a predetermined relationship between the instantaneous position of said point and the desired position of said die at the same instant, the desired position of the die, generating a signal representing the desired position of the die, and utilizing said signal representing the desired position of the die to continuously control the instantaneous position of the die during acceleration such that said die and said point reach said cutoff position simultaneously and while moving at the same velocity, and actuating said die to cut said material when said die and the selected point on said material reach said cutoff position.

Claim 2

A method of coordinating the movement of a die relative to material moving in a given path so that the die and a selective point on the material will arrive simultaneously at a cutoff position while moving at identical velocities including the steps of: selecting a point on the moving material, measuring, at regular length increments, the position of said point relative to a starting position, developing signals from said measurements indicative of the position of said point, utilizing said signals indicative of the position of said point to compute, in accordance with a predetermined relationship between the instantaneous position of said point and the desired position of said die at the same instant, the desired position of the die, generating a signal representing the desired position of the die, and utilizing said signal representing the desired position of the die to continuously control the instantaneous position of the die during acceleration such that said die and said point reach said cutoff position simultaneously and while moving at the same velocity, and actuating said die to cut said material when said die and the selected point on said material reach said cutoff position.

Claim 4

An apparatus for coordinating the movement of the die relative to the material moving in a given path to bring the die from rest to the velocity of the material and to bring the die into coordination with a selected point on the material at a cutoff location including: means to measure the travel distance of said material along said path of travel at predetermined length increments during the acceleration of said die, means to generate signals indicative of the amount of travel of said material at each of said predetermined time intervals, means to utilize said signals indicative of the amount of travel of said material to compute, in accordance with a predetermined relationship between the instantaneous position of said selected point and a desired position of said die at the same instant, the desired position of the die, means to generate a signal representing the desired position of the die based upon the computed desired position of the die, and means to utilize said signal representing the desired position of the die to continuously control acceleration of the die and the relationship between the position of the die and the position of the selected point on the material at each interval of time so that the die and selected point on said material reach a cutoff position simultaneously and while moving at the same velocity, and means to actuate said die to cut said material at said selected point when said cutoff position is reached.

Claim 5

An apparatus for coordinating the movement of the die relative to the material moving in a given path to bring the die from rest to the velocity of the material and to bring the die into coordination with a selected point on the material at a cutoff location including: means to measure the travel distance of said material along said path of travel at predetermined length increments during the acceleration of said die, means to generate signals indicative of the amount of travel of said material at each of said predetermined time intervals, means to utilize said signals indicative of the amount of travel of said material to compute, in accordance with a predetermined relationship between the instantaneous position of said selected point and a desired position of said die at the same instant, the desired position of the die, means to generate a signal representing the desired position of the die based upon the computed desired position of the die, and means to utilize said signal representing the desired position of the die to continuously control acceleration of the die and the relationship between the position of the die and the position of the selected point on the material at each interval of time so that the die and selected point on said material reach a cutoff position simultaneously and while moving at the same velocity, and means to actuate said die to cut said material at said selected point when said cutoff position is reached.