Micro-cutting machine for forming cuts in products
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of cutting a plurality of cuts along a length of a stock material to form a product, comprising the steps of:
- (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) 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 opposing 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) controlling an angle of the stock material; and
(e) moving the stock material to a subsequent X-axis location;
(f) repeating steps (b) through (e) until each pair of cuts has been formed; and
(g) rotating the angle of the stock material based upon a desired variance in anticipation of each of the subsequent X-axis locations.
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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.
96 Citations
26 Claims
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1. 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) 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 opposing 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) controlling an angle of the stock material; and (e) moving the stock material to a subsequent X-axis location; (f) repeating steps (b) through (e) until each pair of cuts has been formed; and (g) rotating the angle of the stock material based upon a desired variance in anticipation of each of the subsequent X-axis locations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification