System for displaying tool parameters of tools utilized in a machining process

Claim 1

A numerically controlled machining system comprising: a numerical control unit for controlling a machine tool, said numerical control unit including an input device, an arithmetic unit for effecting arithmetic operations on commands entered through said input device, a memory for storing the commands from said input device and the results of the arithmetic operations of said arithmetic unit, and a control unit for controlling the arithmetic operations in said arithmetic unit; means for storing in said memory a machining program having machining pattern commands for specifying machining patterns, tool commands for specifying tools, tool parameters and positional information commands for specifying positional information for the tools, wherein said tool parameters include nominal tool diameters, tool diameters, tool lengths, length compensations indicative of the amounts of wear on the tools, and tool lives, wherein the term "length compensation" used herein means the amount of wear on the tool, the term "tool diameter" means the diameter of the tool, the term "tool length" means the distance between the tip end of a tool and the end face of a spindle on which the tool is mounted, and the term "tool life" is the period of time in which a tool can be used for a cutting operation; means for selecting only the tool commands and associated specified tools from the stored machining program; means for displaying tool parameters selected by said selecting means, wherein said displaying means displays a list of the selected tools in their machining order in the stored machining program; and automatic length setting means for measuring the length of each tool.