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US4853867A
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Simultaneous four-axis lathe machining time bar-graph display method
Assignee: Fanuc Corp
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Filing: 1987-02-17
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Granted: 1989-08-01
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Expires: 2007-02-17
Abstract
Abstract When NC programs of a simultaneous four-axis lathe have been prepared, a processor (11) obtains the machining times T 1i , T 2i of synchronized processes for each tool rest and obtains total machining time T m for machining performed by the simultaneous four-axis lathe by using the longer of the machining times for those synchronized processes carried out simultaneously by the tool rests. Next, the total machining time T m is divided by the number of characters C in the horizontal direction of a CRT (16d) used in displaying bar graphs, to calculate machining time t per character. The machining time of each synchronized process is divided by the obtained machining time t per character, to determine the number of characters necessary for displaying each machining time. Thereafter, the machining time for each tool rest is displayed in the form of a bar graph on the display screen of the CRT (16d) by allotting character patterns for bar graph display stored beforehand in a character generator (16b) to the numbers of characters and respective machining times.
Inventors
- 👤 Teruyuki Matsumura
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 13:01
CPC Classifications
B; B23; B23Q; B23Q17/00; G; G05; G05B; G05B19/00; G05B19/02; G05B19/18; G05B19/406; G05B19/4069; G05B2219/00; G05B2219/30; G05B2219/35; G05B2219/35512; G05B2219/36; G05B2219/36073; G05B2219/36084; G05B2219/37; G05B2219/37336; G05B2219/45; G05B2219/45125; G05B2219/50; G05B2219/50015; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T82/00; Y10T82/25; Y10T82/2502
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
274 words
In a machining time display method for displaying, in the form of bar graphs, machining times of each tool rest for every synchronized process in a simultaneous four-axis lathe in which there is provided first and second NC programs corresponding to first and second tool rests, wherein the first and second NC programs have queuing commands, wherein a workpiece is machined by controlling movement of the first and second tool rests independently in accordance with the first and second NC programs, respectively, while synchronization is achieved by said queueing commands, said method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining a total machining time T m of machining performed by the simultaneous four-axis lathe by determining and storing machining times T 1i , T 2i for each synchronized process of the first and second tool rests and using the longer of the machining times of each of the synchronized processes which are carried out simultaneously by both the first and second tool rest to calculate the total machining time T m ; (b) calculating machining time per character by dividing said total machining time T m by a number of characters C used for bar graph display; (c) determining a number of characters necessary for displaying the machining time of each synchronized process by dividing the machining time of each of the synchronized processes by the obtained machining time per character; and (d) displaying the machining time for each of the first and second tool rests in the form of a bar graph by allotting patterns for bar graph display stored beforehand in a character generator to the calculated numbers of characters and respective machining times.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
274 words
In a machining time display method for displaying, in the form of bar graphs, machining times of each tool rest for every synchronized process in a simultaneous four-axis lathe in which there is provided first and second NC programs corresponding to first and second tool rests, wherein the first and second NC programs have queuing commands, wherein a workpiece is machined by controlling movement of the first and second tool rests independently in accordance with the first and second NC programs, respectively, while synchronization is achieved by said queueing commands, said method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining a total machining time T m of machining performed by the simultaneous four-axis lathe by determining and storing machining times T 1i , T 2i for each synchronized process of the first and second tool rests and using the longer of the machining times of each of the synchronized processes which are carried out simultaneously by both the first and second tool rest to calculate the total machining time T m ; (b) calculating machining time per character by dividing said total machining time T m by a number of characters C used for bar graph display; (c) determining a number of characters necessary for displaying the machining time of each synchronized process by dividing the machining time of each of the synchronized processes by the obtained machining time per character; and (d) displaying the machining time for each of the first and second tool rests in the form of a bar graph by allotting patterns for bar graph display stored beforehand in a character generator to the calculated numbers of characters and respective machining times.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
124 words
A simultaneous four-axis lathe machining time display method according to claim 1, wherein said step (b) includes the steps of: (b1) determining a rough machining time per character by dividing the total machining time T m by the number of character C; (b2) checking whether there exist any processes whose machining times are less than the rough machining time by checking the machining times that were used to calculate the total machining time T m in said step (a), calculating a number of processes P whose machining times are less than the rough machining time and calculating a total machining time T p of these process; and (b3) calculating a true machining time t per character in accordance with the following equation: (T.sub.m -T.sub.p)/(C-P)→t.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
203 words
A simultaneous four-axis lathe machining time display method according to claim 2, wherein said step (c) includes the steps of: (c1) obtaining a quotient and a remainder by dividing a machining time T i of each synchronized process corresponding to one of the machining times used to calculate the total machining time T m in said step (a), by the machining time t per character; (c2) adopting the quotient as the number of characters necessary for displaying the machining time T i in the form of a bar graph, and allotting one character to a process for which the quotient is zero; (c3) obtaining a difference between a total value C' of the numbers of characters in all of the synchronized processes and the numbers of characters C; (c4) assigning, one by one, a number of characters equivalent to the difference obtained in said step (c3) to synchronized process for which said remainders are greater than a predetermined number; and (c5) obtaining a number of characters necessary for said machining time display by dividing the machining time of each synchronized process which was not used to calculate the total machining T m in said step (a) by the machining time t per character.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
50 words
A simultaneous four-axis lathe machining time display method according to claim 1, wherein said step (d) comprises displaying bar graphs of contiguous synchronized processes which are continuous, such that the patterns for the bar graphs differ from each other to display a boundary between the bar graphs which is distinguishable.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
198 words
A method of displaying machining times of synchronized processes in a machine tool having first and second tool rests controlled by first and second NC programs, respectively, comprising the steps of: (a) determining, for each synchronized process, the one of the first and second tool rests having the longer machining time; (b) obtaining a total machining time by adding the longer machining time for each synchronized process as determined in said step (a), to obtain a total machining time; (c) calculating a machining time per character by dividing the total machining time determined in said step (b) by a number of characters used for a bar graph display; (d) dividing the machining times of each of the synchronized processes for each of the first and second tool rests by the machining time per character calculated in said step (c) to determine a number of characters necessary for displaying the machining times of each of the synchronized processes; and (e) displaying the machining times of the synchronized processes for each of the first and second tool rests in the form of a bar graph based on the number of characters for each synchronized process determined in said step (d).
Claim 7
Independent Claim
198 words
A method of displaying machining times of synchronized processes in a machine tool having first and second tool rests controlled by first and second NC programs, respectively, comprising the steps of: (a) determining, for each synchronized process, the one of the first and second tool rests having the longer machining time; (b) obtaining a total machining time by adding the longer machining time for each synchronized process as determined in said step (a), to obtain a total machining time; (c) calculating a machining time per character by dividing the total machining time determined in said step (b) by a number of characters used for a bar graph display; (d) dividing the machining times of each of the synchronized processes for each of the first and second tool rests by the machining time per character calculated in said step (c) to determine a number of characters necessary for displaying the machining times of each of the synchronized processes; and (e) displaying the machining times of the synchronized processes for each of the first and second tool rests in the form of a bar graph based on the number of characters for each synchronized process determined in said step (d).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
140 words
A method according to claim 5, wherein said step (c) includes the substeps of: (c1) dividing the total machining time determined in said step (b) by the total number of characters, to determine a rough machining time per character; (c2) determining whether any of the synchronized processes included in the total machining time obtained in said step (b) have machining times which are less than the rough machining time; (c3) calculating the number of synchronized processes whose machining times are less than the rough machining time, and the total machining time of these short synchronized processes; and (c4) calculating a true machining time per character based on the total machining time determined in said step (b), the total machining time of the short synchronized processes determined in said substep (c3), the number of characters, and the number of synchronized processes.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method according to claim 5, wherein said step (e) comprises displaying bar graphs of contiguous synchronized processes which are continuous in a manner such that the patterns for the bar graphs differ from each other to display a boundary between the bar graphs which is distinguishable.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1992-07-31 | 1993-01-30 | 1993-08-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1996-07-31 | 1997-01-30 | 1997-08-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2000-07-31 | 2001-01-30 | 2001-08-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |