Method and apparatus for successively positioning sheets of material with precision for punching aligning holes in the sheets enabling the sheets to be used in the manufacture of composite circuit boards
First Claim
1. Apparatus for effecting operations on sheets of material at precise locations thereon, each sheet having marking means thereon, said apparatus comprising receiver means for receiving sheets one by one and for holding said sheets in fixed position, operating means for effecting an operation on said sheets at precise locations thereon, optical means for viewing each sheet to detect the marking means thereon, display means for visually displaying the marking means on each sheet, means for producing an index positioning means on said display means, means for moving said index positioning means on said display means to establish a fixed relation between said index positioning means and said operating means, and means for adjustably moving said receiver means to align the marking means on each sheet, as viewed on the display means, with the index positioning means thereon, said optical means comprising a video camera and said display means comprising a video tube, said index positioning means comprising a reticle and said means for producing the index positioning means comprises electronic means for electronically producing said reticle on said video tube.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for effecting operations, such as punching holes in sheets of material at precise locations thereon. Each sheet has a reference marking thereon and is placed on a receiver one by one and is held in fixed position on the receiver. A T.V. camera views each sheet to detect the reference marking thereon and a visual display of the marking is produced on a T.V. monitor. Also produced on the monitor is a cross-hair grating with a coincident shaded box. The cross-hair grating is first aligned with a marking reference on a master sheet to establish a fixed relation between the cross-hair and the marking reference on the master sheet and thereby between the cross-hair and the operating system, for example, the punches for punching holes in the sheets. The master sheet is removed and the sheets to be punched are placed one by one on the receiver which is moved to align the reference marking on each sheet, as viewed on the monitor with the cross-hair grating thereon.
33 Citations
22 Claims
- 1. Apparatus for effecting operations on sheets of material at precise locations thereon, each sheet having marking means thereon, said apparatus comprising receiver means for receiving sheets one by one and for holding said sheets in fixed position, operating means for effecting an operation on said sheets at precise locations thereon, optical means for viewing each sheet to detect the marking means thereon, display means for visually displaying the marking means on each sheet, means for producing an index positioning means on said display means, means for moving said index positioning means on said display means to establish a fixed relation between said index positioning means and said operating means, and means for adjustably moving said receiver means to align the marking means on each sheet, as viewed on the display means, with the index positioning means thereon, said optical means comprising a video camera and said display means comprising a video tube, said index positioning means comprising a reticle and said means for producing the index positioning means comprises electronic means for electronically producing said reticle on said video tube.
- 11. Apparatus for effecting operations on sheets of material at precise locations thereon, each sheet having marking means thereon, said apparatus comprising receiver means for receiving sheets one by one and for holding said sheets in fixed position, operating means for effecting an operation on said sheets at precise locations thereon, optical means for viewing each sheet to detect the marking means thereon, display means for visually displaying the marking means on each sheet, means for producing an index positioning means on said display means, means for moving said index positioning means on said display means to establish a fixed relation between said index positioning means and said operating means, and means for adjustably moving said receiver means to align the marking means on each sheet, as viewed on the display means, with the index positioning means thereon, said operating means comprising means for forming holes in said sheets of materials.
- 19. A method of positioning an element with a marking means thereon at a precise location, said method comprising holding a reference element with marking means thereon on a support, aiming a camera at said marking means on the reference element, displaying the image produced by the camera on a screen, producing a reticle on said screen, adjusting the position of the reticle on said screen to align with the image of said marking means on said screen, locking the position of said camera and said reticle, removing the reference element, placing the element to be precisely located onto said support and moving said support to align the marking means on said element as it appears on said screen with the reticle on said screen and forming holes in the precisely located element after it has been positioned on said support.
Specification