Etching a succession of articles from a strip of sheet metal
First Claim
1. In a method for producing a succession of articles from a strip of sheet metal whose thickness varies randomly along its length including (i) moving said strip along a prescribed path, (ii) and etching through said strip in defined regions thereof to a desired degree, said etching step having at least one variable process parameter that affects said degree of etching, the improvement comprising(a) monitoring the thickness of said strip along its direction of movement,(b) and adjusting said variable process parameter in response to said monitored thickness.
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Accused Products
Abstract
When precision etching a succession of articles from a strip of metal having random variations in thickness and moving along a prescribed path, the thickness of the metal strip is monitored, and the etching step is adjusted in response to the monitored thickness to compensate for the thickness variations.
28 Citations
9 Claims
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1. In a method for producing a succession of articles from a strip of sheet metal whose thickness varies randomly along its length including (i) moving said strip along a prescribed path, (ii) and etching through said strip in defined regions thereof to a desired degree, said etching step having at least one variable process parameter that affects said degree of etching, the improvement comprising
(a) monitoring the thickness of said strip along its direction of movement, (b) and adjusting said variable process parameter in response to said monitored thickness.
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5. In a method for producing a succession of articles from a strip of sheet metal having randomly varying thickness along its length, said strip carrying etch-resistant stencils on both major surfaces thereof, said method including (i) moving said strip lengthwise along a prescribed path, (ii) and etching through successive regions of said strip from both surfaces thereof as defined by said stencils, the improvement comprising
(a) monitoring the thickness of said strip along its direction of movement, (b) producing signals in response to the monitored thicknesses of said strip, and (c) adjusting the speed of said moving strip in response to said signals to compensate for said thickness variations.
Specification