Apparatus for controlled deceleration in numerical positioning

Claim 2

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for receiving a series of input displacement commands specifying successive movements of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement, said computer including a computer memory for storing a computer program and for storing a load-positioning control quantity, said computer program being operable to control the stored program digital computer to generate displacement control signals based on the respective input displacement commands and modified to take into account said loadpositioning control quantity, said stored program digital computer under the control of said program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to each move and being operable to modify said load-positioning control quantity when the positioning of the load departs from a predetermined movement pattern and being operable to modify said loadpositioning control quantity in a sense tending to correct for such departure, and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement, and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said displacement control signals to move the load along said path at a schedule of speeds as a function of distance such as to cause the load to substantially follow said predetermined movement pattern in the successive movements of said load, and to supply to said stored program digital computer said load movement signals indicative of any departure from the load from said predetermined movement pattern.

Claim 3

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for receiving a series of input displacement commands specifying successive movements of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement; said computer including a computer memory for storing a first computer program operable to control the computer to generate first control signals, said stored program digital computer under the control of said first computer program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to each move to determine deceleration characteristics of the load and to store a load positioning control quantity indicative of said deceleration characteristics of the load in said computer memory; said computer memory being operable for storing a second computer program operable to control the computer to generate second control signals based on said input displacement commands and taking into account said load positioning control quantity; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control movements of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said first control signals to cause movement of the load at a predetermined speed along said given path and then to cause rapid deceleration of said load; and operable to generate said load movement signals in accordance with the deceleration characteristics of the load when the load is moved under the control of said first control signals, thereby enabling the computer under the control of said first computer program to determine the value of said load-positioning control quantity; and operable to respond to said second control signals to move the load along said path at a schedule of speeds as a function of distance so as to execute the series of input displacement commands and to initiate deceleration of the load at substantially an optimum deceleration point in each successive movement of the load.

Claim 4

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for receiving a series of input displacement commands specifying successive movements of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement; said computer including a computer memory for storing a first computer program operable to control the computer to generate first control signals, said stored program digital computer under the control of said first computer program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to each move to determine deceleration characteristics of the load and to store a load positioning control quantity indicative of said deceleration characteristics of the load in said computer memory; said computer memory being operable for storing a second computer program operable to control the computer to generate second control signals based on said input displacement commands and taking into account said load positioning control quantity; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control movements of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said first control signals to cause movement of the load at a predetermined speed along said given path and then to cause rapid deceleration of said load; and operable to generate said load movement signals in accordance with the deceleration characteristics of the load when the load is moved under the control of said first control signals, thereby enabling the computer under the control of said first computer program to determine the value of said load-positioning control quantity; and operable to respond to said second control signals to move the load along said path at a schedule of speeds as a function of distance so as to execute the series of input displacement commands and to initiate deceleration of the load at substantially an optimum deceleration point in each successive movement of the load.

Claim 5

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for receiving a series of input displacement commands specifying successive movements of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement; said computer including a computer memory for storing a first computer program operable to control the computer to generate first control signals, said stored program digital computer under the control of said first computer program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to each move to determine deceleration characteristics of the load and to store a load positioning control quantity indicative of said deceleration characteristics of the load in said computer memory; said computer memory being operable for storing a second computer program operable to control the computer to generate second control signals based on said input displacement commands and taking into account said load positioning control quantity; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control movements of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said first control signals to cause movement of the load at a predetermined speed along said given path and then to cause rapid deceleration of said load; and operable to generate said load movement signals in accordance with the deceleration characteristics of the load when the load is moved under the control of said first control signals, thereby enabling the computer under the control of said first computer program to determine the value of said load-positioning control quantity; and operable to respond to said second control signals to move the load along said path at a schedule of speeds as a function of distance so as to execute the series of input displacement commands and to initiate deceleration of the load at substantially an optimum deceleration point in each successive movement of the load.

Claim 6

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for receiving a series of input displacement commands specifying successive movements of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement; said computer including a computer memory for storing a first computer program operable to control the computer to generate first control signals, said stored program digital computer under the control of said first computer program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to each move to determine deceleration characteristics of the load and to store a load positioning control quantity indicative of said deceleration characteristics of the load in said computer memory; said computer memory being operable for storing a second computer program operable to control the computer to generate second control signals based on said input displacement commands and taking into account said load positioning control quantity; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control movements of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said first control signals to cause movement of the load at a predetermined speed along said given path and then to cause rapid deceleration of said load; and operable to generate said load movement signals in accordance with the deceleration characteristics of the load when the load is moved under the control of said first control signals, thereby enabling the computer under the control of said first computer program to determine the value of said load-positioning control quantity; and operable to respond to said second control signals to move the load along said path at a schedule of speeds as a function of distance so as to execute the series of input displacement commands and to initiate deceleration of the load at substantially an optimum deceleration point in each successive movement of the load.

Claim 7

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for controlling movement of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement; said computer including a computer memory for storing a computer program operable to control the computer to generate movement control signals, said stored program digital computer under the control of said computer program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to movement of said load to determine a deceleration distance in which the load comes to rest from a rapid traverse condition wherein the load is moving at a predetermined speed, and to store said deceleration distance in said computer memory; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control the speed of movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said movement control signals to cause movement of the load at said predetermined speed along said given path and then to cause deceleration of said load; and operable to generate said load movement signals during deceleration of the load, thereby enabling the computer under the control of said computer program to determine and store in said computer memory the value of said deceleration distance.

Claim 8

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for controlling movement of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement; said computer including a computer memory for storing a computer program operable to control the computer to generate movement control signals, said stored program digital computer under the control of said computer program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to movement of said load to determine a deceleration distance in which the load comes to rest from a rapid traverse condition wherein the load is moving at a predetermined speed, and to store said deceleration distance in said computer memory; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control the speed of movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said movement control signals to cause movement of the load at said predetermined speed along said given path and then to cause deceleration of said load; and operable to generate said load movement signals during deceleration of the load, thereby enabling the computer under the control of said computer program to determine and store in said computer memory the value of said deceleration distance.

Claim 9

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for controlling movement of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement; said computer including a computer memory for storing a computer program operable to control the computer to generate movement control signals, said stored program digital computer under the control of said computer program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to movement of said load to determine a deceleration distance in which the load comes to rest from a rapid traverse condition wherein the load is moving at a predetermined speed, and to store said deceleration distance in said computer memory; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control the speed of movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said movement control signals to cause movement of the load at said predetermined speed along said given path and then to cause deceleration of said load; and operable to generate said load movement signals during deceleration of the load, thereby enabling the computer under the control of said computer program to determine and store in said computer memory the value of said deceleration distance.

Claim 10

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer for controlling movement of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement; said computer including a computer memory for storing a computer program operable to control the computer to generate movement control signals, said stored program digital computer under the control of said computer program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to movement of said load to determine a deceleration distance in which the load comes to rest from a rapid traverse condition wherein the load is moving at a predetermined speed, and to store said deceleration distance in said computer memory; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control the speed of movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said movement control signals to cause movement of the load at said predetermined speed along said given path and then to cause deceleration of said load; and operable to generate said load movement signals during deceleration of the load, thereby enabling the computer under the control of said computer program to determine and store in said computer memory the value of said deceleration distance.

Claim 11

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer receiving an input displacement command specifying a movement of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement to a commanded end point; said computer including a computer memory for storing a first computer program, and said stored program digital computer under the control of said stored program digital computer under the control of computer first computer program being operable to generate first control signals including a rapid transverse signal and a deceleration signal, said stored program digital computer under the control of said first computer program being responsive to load movement pulses to determine the distance of movement of the load and to determine when the load has come to a stop, and being operable to determine and store in said computer memory a deceleration distance equal to the distance required for the load to come to a stop from rapid traverse movement thereof; said computer memory being operable for storing a second computer program and said stored program digital computer under the control of said second computer program being operable to respond to said load movement pulses and to generate second control signals based on said input displacement command and taking into account said deceleration distance, said second control signals including said rapid traverse signal and said deceleration signal; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control the speed of movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as a load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said rapid traverse signal to cause acceleration of the load to a rapid traverse speed along said given path and to respond to said deceleration of said load; operable to generate said load movement pulses in accordance with successive increments of movement of the load, thereby enabling the computer to determine and store in computer memory the value of said deceleration distanCe; said machine tool control being operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said second control signals to move the load along said path at a speed as a function of distance so as to execute said input displacement command.

Claim 12

A machine-tool-control system comprising a stored program digital computer receiving an input displacement command specifying a movement of parts of a machine tool serving as a load along a given path of movement to a commanded end point; said computer including a computer memory for storing a first computer program, and said stored program digital computer under the control of said stored program digital computer under the control of computer first computer program being operable to generate first control signals including a rapid transverse signal and a deceleration signal, said stored program digital computer under the control of said first computer program being responsive to load movement pulses to determine the distance of movement of the load and to determine when the load has come to a stop, and being operable to determine and store in said computer memory a deceleration distance equal to the distance required for the load to come to a stop from rapid traverse movement thereof; said computer memory being operable for storing a second computer program and said stored program digital computer under the control of said second computer program being operable to respond to said load movement pulses and to generate second control signals based on said input displacement command and taking into account said deceleration distance, said second control signals including said rapid traverse signal and said deceleration signal; and a machine tool control operatively connectable to the machine tool to control the speed of movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as a load along the given path of movement; and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said rapid traverse signal to cause acceleration of the load to a rapid traverse speed along said given path and to respond to said deceleration of said load; operable to generate said load movement pulses in accordance with successive increments of movement of the load, thereby enabling the computer to determine and store in computer memory the value of said deceleration distanCe; said machine tool control being operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said second control signals to move the load along said path at a speed as a function of distance so as to execute said input displacement command.

Claim 13

A control system in accordance with claim 4 with said stored program digital computer under the control of said first computer program being operable to respond to load movement pulses during acceleration of the load from rest to said rapid traverse speed to compute automatically and to store in said computer memory an acceleration distance equal to the distance required for the load to each said rapid traverse speed.

Claim 14

A control system in accordance with claim 5 with the stored program digital computer under the control of said second computer program being operable in response to an input displacement command to determine whether the distance to the commanded end point is less than or greater than the sum of said acceleration distance and said deceleration distance and to initiate deceleration of the load when the load is less than the deceleration distance from the commanded end point and before the load attains said rapid traverse speed where the distance and the deceleration distance.

Claim 15

A control system in accordance with claim 4 with said stored program digital computer under the control of said second computer program being operable to register the degree of overshoot of the load with respect to a given commanded movement thereof and to adjust the value of the deceleration distance stored in said computer memory so as to tend eliminate such overshoot in a subsequent move.

Claim 16

A machine-to-control system comprising a machine tool having parts thereof movable along a given path of movement and serving as a load which will traverse a given deceleration distance while being brought to a stop after achieving a predetermined speed, a stored program digital computer for receiving a displacement command specifying movement of said parts of said machine tool serving as said load along said given path of movement to a commanded end position, said computer memory for storing a computer program and for storing a deceleration distance value which is a function of the deceleration distance for said load, said computer program being operable to control the stored program digital computer to generate displacement control signals including an acceleration signal, and including a deceleration signal based both on the displacement command to be executed and on said deceleration distance value, said stored program digital computer under the control of said program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to each move and being operable to issue said deceleration signal when the load reaches a distance from said commanded end position substantially equal to said deceleration distance; and a machine tool control operatively connected to said machine tool to control the speed of movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement, and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said acceleration signal to accelerate movement of load, said machine tool control being operable to generate said load movement signals in accordance with the movement of the load toward the commanded end position, thereby to enable said computer to sense when the load is at said distance from the commanded end position substantially equal to said deceleration distance.

Claim 17

A machine-to-control system comprising a machine tool having parts thereof movable along a given path of movement and serving as a load which will traverse a given deceleration distance while being brought to a stop after achieving a predetermined speed, a stored program digital computer for receiving a displacement command specifying movement of said parts of said machine tool serving as said load along said given path of movement to a commanded end position, said computer memory for storing a computer program and for storing a deceleration distance value which is a function of the deceleration distance for said load, said computer program being operable to control the stored program digital computer to generate displacement control signals including an acceleration signal, and including a deceleration signal based both on the displacement command to be executed and on said deceleration distance value, said stored program digital computer under the control of said program being responsive to load movement signals with respect to each move and being operable to issue said deceleration signal when the load reaches a distance from said commanded end position substantially equal to said deceleration distance; and a machine tool control operatively connected to said machine tool to control the speed of movement of the parts of the machine tool serving as said load along the given path of movement, and operatively connectable to said stored program digital computer to respond to said acceleration signal to accelerate movement of load, said machine tool control being operable to generate said load movement signals in accordance with the movement of the load toward the commanded end position, thereby to enable said computer to sense when the load is at said distance from the commanded end position substantially equal to said deceleration distance.