abstract |
Numerical control for machine tools and the like of the genus described in McGee U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,124. Improvements are here described for digital computations and control which cause a tool or cutter to follow successive path segments programmed in workpiece edge coordinates, even though the servos operate to control the motion and positioning of the center of a cutter having a finite and unforeseeable radius. Additionally, automatic smooth transitions from segment to segment of the path are effected with a tangent fillet machined on the workpiece which has a radius equal either to that of the cutter or a value which is designated as a single numerical value in the program command data. |