Error compensation in tool movement over intermittently advanced work support surface

Claim 2

In a material cutting system the combination of: a. a work support surface movable along a given axis; b. means for advancing said work support surface along said axis toward a predetermined work position; c. means for always stopping said work support surface at an actual position an indeterminate distance past said work position; d. means for producing an electrical signal digitally representative of the distance from said predetermined work position to said actual position; e. a cutting device adjacent said work support surface and means for moving said cutting device along said axis to a series of selected cutting positions; and f. means responsive to said electrical signal for automatically changing said cutting positions of said cutting device along said axis so as to compensate for said distance.

Claim 3

the actual work position of said work support surface at the end of the advancement immediately preceding said given advancement, less the predetermined work position of said work support surface for said immediately preceding advancement.

Claim 4

the actual work position of said work support surface at the end of the advancement immediately preceding said given advancement, less the predetermined work position of said work support surface for said immediately preceding advancement.

Claim 5

means for advancing said counter in step with the advancement of said work support surface; and

Claim 6

means for advancing said counter in step with the advancement of said work support surface; and

Claim 7

the amount signaled by said digital counter after the immediately preceding stopping of said work support surface.

Claim 8

the amount signaled by said digital counter after the immediately preceding stopping of said work support surface.

Claim 9

In a material cutting system the combination of: a. a work support surface movable along a given axis; b. means for advancing said work support surface along said axis toward a predetermined work position; c. means for stopping said work support surface at an actual position near said work position; d. shortfall detecting means for determining whether or not said actual position is short of said work position; e. means responsive to said shortfall detecting means for advancing said cutting surface beyond said work position; f. means for producing an electrical signal digitally representative of the distance from said predetermined work position to said actual position; g. a cutting device adjacent said work support surface and means for moving said cutting device along said axis to a series of selected cutting positions; and h. means responsive to said electrical signal for automatically changing said cutting positions of said cutting device along said axis so as to compensate for said distance.

Claim 10

In a material cutting system the combination of: a. a work support surface movable along a given axis; b. means for advancing said work support surface along said axis toward a predetermined work position; c. means for stopping said work support surface at an actual position near said work position; d. shortfall detecting means for determining whether or not said actual position is short of said work position; e. means responsive to said shortfall detecting means for advancing said cutting surface beyond said work position; f. means for producing an electrical signal digitally representative of the distance from said predetermined work position to said actual position; g. a cutting device adjacent said work support surface and means for moving said cutting device along said axis to a series of selected cutting positions; and h. means responsive to said electrical signal for automatically changing said cutting positions of said cutting device along said axis so as to compensate for said distance.

Claim 11

A positioning system comprising in combination: a. a work support surface movable along a given axis; b. a tool movable along said axis relative to said work support surface; c. means for generating digital command signals representative of movements to be executed by said tool along said axis relative to said surface; d. means for moving said tool along said axis in response to said digital commaNd signals; e. means for progressively advancing said work support surface along said axis, each time by substantially a predetermined amount; f. means for generating a pulse train representative of the distance travelled by said work support surface; g. a digital counter for receiving said pulses and digitally signalling said distance; h. means for resetting said counter each time it has received a number of pulses corresponding exactly to said predetermined amount; i. means responsive to the output of said digital counter for stopping said movable work surface after it has advanced substantially by said predetermined amount; and j. means responsive to the contents of said digital counter for modifying, after each given stopping of said work support surface, the position of said tool from that represented by said digital command signals by the net difference between:

Claim 12

A positioning system comprising in combination: a. a work support surface movable along a given axis; b. a tool movable along said axis relative to said work support surface; c. means for generating digital command signals representative of movements to be executed by said tool along said axis relative to said surface; d. means for moving said tool along said axis in response to said digital commaNd signals; e. means for progressively advancing said work support surface along said axis, each time by substantially a predetermined amount; f. means for generating a pulse train representative of the distance travelled by said work support surface; g. a digital counter for receiving said pulses and digitally signalling said distance; h. means for resetting said counter each time it has received a number of pulses corresponding exactly to said predetermined amount; i. means responsive to the output of said digital counter for stopping said movable work surface after it has advanced substantially by said predetermined amount; and j. means responsive to the contents of said digital counter for modifying, after each given stopping of said work support surface, the position of said tool from that represented by said digital command signals by the net difference between:

Claim 13

means for resetting said counter after each advancement of said work support surface by said predetermined amount; and e. means responsive to the contents of said counter for offsetting each of said predetermined points after each given advancement of said work support surface by the net difference between:

Claim 14

means for resetting said counter after each advancement of said work support surface by said predetermined amount; and e. means responsive to the contents of said counter for offsetting each of said predetermined points after each given advancement of said work support surface by the net difference between:

Claim 15

A positioning system comprising in combination: a. a work support surface movable along a given axis; b. a tool movable along said axis relative to said work support surface; c. means for traversing said tool after each advancement of said work support surface through successive points predetermined relative to a stationary reference point; d. means for successively advancing said work support surface along said axis substantially to respective ones of a series of equally spaced work positions, said means including:

Claim 16

A positioning system comprising in combination: a. a work support surface movable along a given axis; b. a tool movable along said axis relative to said work support surface; c. means for traversing said tool after each advancement of said work support surface through successive points predetermined relative to a stationary reference point; d. means for successively advancing said work support surface along said axis substantially to respective ones of a series of equally spaced work positions, said means including: