Micro-Cutting Machine for Forming Cuts in Products
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for forming a plurality of cuts along a length of a stock material to form a product, comprising:
- a stock material controller holding the stock material and feeding the stock material along an X-axis;
a cutting apparatus including a first cutting member, a second cutting member and a first motor moving the first cutting member and the second cutting member substantially parallel to a Z-axis to form each pair of cuts among the plurality of cuts, the cutting apparatus including one or more second motors controlling a relative gap distance along a Y-axis between a first cutting point of the first cutting member and a second cutting point of the second cutting member, each pair of cuts leaving a resultant beam in the stock material based on the relative gap distance; and
an electronic controller communicatively coupled to the stock material controller controlling operation of the stock material controller to feed the stock material along the X-axis after each pair of cuts has been formed and communicatively coupled to the cutting apparatus controlling operation of the first motor to form each pair of cuts and controlling operation of the one or more second motors to control the relative gap distance.
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Abstract
Micro-cutting machines for forming cuts in catheters, guidewires, and similar products, are disclosed, including a micro-cutting machine that can directly control the dimensions of the resultant beams being cut into products, and that can capture images of each cut for feedback control and accuracy verification.
130 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A system for forming a plurality of cuts along a length of a stock material to form a product, comprising:
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a stock material controller holding the stock material and feeding the stock material along an X-axis; a cutting apparatus including a first cutting member, a second cutting member and a first motor moving the first cutting member and the second cutting member substantially parallel to a Z-axis to form each pair of cuts among the plurality of cuts, the cutting apparatus including one or more second motors controlling a relative gap distance along a Y-axis between a first cutting point of the first cutting member and a second cutting point of the second cutting member, each pair of cuts leaving a resultant beam in the stock material based on the relative gap distance; and an electronic controller communicatively coupled to the stock material controller controlling operation of the stock material controller to feed the stock material along the X-axis after each pair of cuts has been formed and communicatively coupled to the cutting apparatus controlling operation of the first motor to form each pair of cuts and controlling operation of the one or more second motors to control the relative gap distance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for forming a plurality of cuts along a length of a stock material to form a product, comprising:
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a stock material controller holding the stock material and feeding the stock material along an X-axis; a cutting apparatus including a first cutting blade and a second cutting blade, the cutting apparatus including a first spindle motor driving the first cutting blade and a second spindle motor driving the second cutting blade, the cutting apparatus including a first stepper motor moving the first cutting blade along a Y-axis and a second stepper motor moving the second cutting blade along the Y-axis to create a relative gap distance along the Y-axis between the first cutting blade and the second cutting blade, the cutting apparatus including a first motor moving the first cutting member and the second cutting member substantially parallel to a Z-axis to form each pair of cuts among the plurality of cuts, each pair of cuts leaving a resultant beam in the stock material based on the relative gap distance; and an electronic controller communicatively coupled to the stock material controller controlling operation of the stock material controller to feed the stock material along the X-axis after each pair of cuts has been formed and communicatively coupled to the cutting apparatus controlling operation of the first motor to form each pair of cuts and controlling operation of the first stepper motor and the second stepper motor that control the relative gap distance. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of cutting a plurality of cuts along a length of a stock material to form a product, comprising the steps of:
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(a) moving the stock material to a first position along an X-axis; (b) moving a first cutting member to a first Y-axis location and a second cutting member to a second Y-axis location to create one or more relative gap distances between the first cutting member and the second cutting member; (c) simultaneously moving the first cutting member and the second cutting member along a Z-axis while maintaining the one or more relative gap distances to cut into the stock material to form each pair of cuts among the plurality of cuts and a resultant beam having one or more widths approximately equal to the one or more relative gap distances; (d) moving the stock material to a subsequent X-axis location; and (e) repeating steps (b) through (d) until each pair of cuts has been formed. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification