Optical line following program control system

Claim 2

A machine tool control system comprising an optical pattern follower including means to sense a pattern and control the machine tool in accordance with the pattern and to sense command marks on the pattern being followed and produce therefrom first command pulses, means on said machine to sense the condition of the work tool of said machine and produce in response thereto second command pulses representative of said condition and substantially identical to said first command pulses, a control panel and means thereon to control the production of further control pulses substantially identical to said first command pulses, means to count all of said command pulses as they are produced and effect predetermined changes in the operation of said control system in response to total count of pulses produced.

Claim 3

A machine tool control system comprising an optical pattern follower which cyclically scans an optical pattern and produces therefrom output signals having a time characteristic indicative of the direction of travel of the follower with respect to the pattern, means to suppress the output signals of the pattern follower during the majority of the cycle, and enabling means to enable the production of output signals from the pattern follower for a time period less than one complete cycle at a time during the cycle determined by the occurrence of the immediately preceding output signal and auxiliary means provided to produce a signal similar to the output signal and of a cyclic nature to activate said enabling means even in the absence of an output signal whereby in the absence of production of an output signal due to absence of an optical pattern during any one cycle said optical means is enabled to produce an output signal upon the next succeeding occurrence of the pattern, and further means to enable said optical pattern follower to produce pulses in response to detected marks at a time interval other than the time interval during which the pattern occurs and produce therefrom command pulses, means to count said command pulses and to control the operation of said system in accordance with said count.

Claim 4

A machine tool control system comprising an optical pattern follower which cyclically scans an optical pattern and produces therefrom output signals having a time characteristic indicative of the direction of travel of the follower with respect to the pattern, means to suppress the output signals of the pattern follower during the majority of the cycle, and enabling means to enable the production of output signals from the pattern follower for a time period less than one complete cycle at a time during the cycle determined by the occurrence of the immediately preceding output signal and auxiliary means provided to produce a signal similar to the output signal and of a cyclic nature to activate said enabling means even in the absence of an output signal whereby in the absence of production of an output signal due to absence of an optical pattern during any one cycle said optical means is enabled to produce an output signal upon the next succeeding occurrence of the pattern, and further means to enable said optical pattern follower to produce pulses in response to detected marks at a time interval other than the time interval during which the pattern occurs and produce therefrom command pulses, means to count said command pulses and to control the operation of said system in accordance with said count.

Claim 5

A machine tool control system including an optical pattern follower with means to differentiate between the optical pattern and further marks on the pattern and produce from said further marks command pulses, means to count the number of command pulses received and produce in response to a predetermined number of command pulses a command signal and means to utilize the command signal to determine the mode of operation of the pattern follower.

Claim 6

A machine tool control system including an optical pattern follower with means to differentiate between the optical pattern and further marks on the pattern and produce from said further marks command pulses, means to count the number of command pulses received and produce in response to a predetermined number of command pulses a command signal and means to utilize the command signal to determine the mode of operation of the pattern follower.

Claim 7

A machine tool control system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the system is programmed to control the operation of the machine tool and the control system in a series of predetermined modes in sequence according to the pulse count.

Claim 8

A machine tool control system as claimed in claim 2 wherein in the absence of an output signal the machine continues to travel in the same direction it was travelling before encountering an absence of an optical pattern.

Claim 9

A machine tool control system as claimed in claim 2 wherein the operation of said auxiliary means is determined by a program selected in accordance with the number of command pulses detected by the system.