Abstract: A reciprocating knife cutter for performing a cutting operation on sheet material is provided wherein the knife is not limited to reciprocation along a vertical axis. The cutter includes a guide which engages the knife, whereby the knife and guide are constrained to slide relative to one another along the longitudinal axis of the knife. The knife is reciprocated by an eccentric drive mechanism in a plane perpendicular to the drive axis of the mechanism, and the guide is pivotally mounted on the cutter so that the knife and guide remain in engagement as the knife is reciprocated. A sheet material cutting apparatus including such a reciprocating cutter is also provided. The invention also provides a knife sharpener for a cutting apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for cutting pattern pieces from a continuous marker are disclosed. According to the invention, pattern pieces comprising made to order garments are cut from successive bites of limp sheet material. Means are provided for creating the continuous marker, labeling the pattern pieces and cutting the pattern pieces for subsequent processing.

Abstract: A reciprocating knife cutter for performing a cutting operation on sheet material is provided wherein the knife is not limited to reciprocation along a vertical axis. The cutter includes a guide which engages the knife, whereby the knife and guide are constrained to slide relative to one another along the longitudinal axis of the knife. The knife is reciprocated by an eccentric drive mechanism in a plane perpendicular to the drive axis of the mechanism, and the guide is pivotally mounted on the cutter so that the knife and guide remain in engagement as the knife is reciprocated. A sheet material cutting apparatus including such a reciprocating cutter is also provided. The invention also provides a knife sharpener for a cutting apparatus.

Abstract: In a line tracing laser cutter for sheet material the fundamental axis of beam projection onto the work material is moved by relatively high inertia drive apparatus along a relatively smooth axis trace line, and during such movement the beam is at times shifted by low inertia apparatus from the fundamental axis to cause the beam to follow a line of cut having sharper or more complex features than the axis trace line.

Abstract: An automatically controlled cutting machine for working on limp sheet material utilizes positive air pressure and vacuum to hold the material in place during a work operation. The level of the pressure is set or regulated with a pressure sensor to develop an appropriate holddown force and to minimize the disturbance to the material surrounding the work operation. The distribution of the airflow onto the sheet material for generating the pressure is also concentrated around the point of the work operation by an aperture plate.

Abstract: A lens or lap blank surfacing machine, for use in making eyeglass lenses, and related surfacing method and rotary cutting tool, is one wherein the rotary cutting tool is moved point by point over the entire extent of a face of the blank to form a new face surface on the blank with the movements of the tool and blank relative to one another being controlled in three coordinate directions by a computer controller to give the formed surface a shape related to a given eyeglass prescription or similar specification. The rotary cutting tool has a number of peripheral zones surrounding its rotation axis with at least one of the zones having a fine cutting characteristic and with at least one other of the zones having a coarse cutting characteristic.

Abstract: A method for making a plurality of printing press page printing plates using a drum type raster scanning plate making machine involves making a number of separate printing plates from each sheet of plate making material handled by the machine, thereby increasing the number of printing plates capable of being made during a given period of time in comparison to prior methods using similar machines and making only one printing plate from each sheet of plate making material.

Abstract: A plotting apparatus has an automatically controlled carriage assembly for precisely controlling movement of a plotting instrument relative to an associated section of an elongated strip of plotting paper supported on a table which has a stationary low-friction work surface. A coupling mechanism mounted on the carriage assembly includes a friction shoe movable into frictional gripping engagement with the plotting paper to releasably couple the paper to the carriage to move with it and in sliding engagement with the stationary work surface whereby another section of the plotting paper may be moved into plotting position on the work surface when the plotting instrument is not operating.

Abstract: A relatively rigid horizontally extending supporting surface supports a layup of sheet material to be cut. Air is evacuated from between the sheets in the layup, and a sheet of air impervious material covers the layup to aid in compacting the layup. One of several blanking dies in a turret is adapted for vertical movement in a carriage mechanism, which is movable in at least one coordinate direction across the layup. Relative movement in the other coordinate direction is also provided for, and the turret is rotatable on a vertical axis normal to the supporting surface for orienting the die to be used. The blanking die turret is also indexable about a horizontal axis in order to locate its various dies for the blanking motion and thereby minimize waste from the layup of sheet material.

Abstract: An automatically controlled cutting machine has a label applicator mounted with the cutting tool for movement above the support surface of a table on which multi-ply layups of sheet material are positioned for cutting. Stacks of pattern pieces cut from the layup by the tool are marked with information labels dispensed from the applicator. Information borne by the labels is preprinted on the labels or is generated by a printer which cooperates with the dispensing mechanism of the applicator.

Abstract: A high accuracy drum plotter utilizes a lightweight structurally rigid plotting drum to obtain high accelerations and, correspondingly, high throughput of information. The information is generated graphically on a plotting material which is held on the light weight drum by means of a vacuum system. High accuracy is maintained by providing compensation apparatus for adjusting drum rotation in accordance with plotting material thickness.

Abstract: A plotting head is provided for a slender shaft of consumable marking material, such as pencil lead or graphite, which is capable of producing uniform line intensity at any plotting speed as long as a light stylus pressure is applied to the shaft. The head includes a magazine capable of storing a plurality of such shafts, a feed mechanism for advancing the shaft of marking material as it is consumed during a plotting operation, and an indexing mechanism for rotating the magazine and placing a new shaft of marking material in registration with the feed mechanism each time a shaft is substantially consumed. A torque motor in the feed mechanism maintains a substantially uniform stylus pressure on the shaft when line traces are being drawn and also energizes the indexing mechanism to bring a new shaft of marking material into the plotting position when the old shaft is substantially consumed.

Abstract: A cutting machine having a reciprocating cutting blade is provided with a penetrable support bed for holding limp sheet material during a cutting operation. The support bed is formed from a plurality of flexible bristles held in a closely packed array. The base ends of the bristles are mounted in a binder and the free ends of the bristles have flattened heads which lie in a common plane defining the support surface on which the sheet material is spread. The flattened heads are developed by heating the free ends of the bristles in the array until they are softened and then forming the heads on the free ends. The bristles are preferably made of a thermoplastic material.

Abstract: A cutting apparatus employs a cutting wheel which is rotated about an axis perpendicular to a support surface on which sheet material is positioned for cutting. A stripping plate is mounted in closely spaced relationship with the cutting wheel so that shredded material generated by the wheel during a cutting operation is sheared off. The cutting wheel in a cutting operation is advanced relative to the sheet material so that the leading cutting edges of the wheel, rather than the trailing edges, move along the desired line of cut. The material being cut is positioned on a bed that can be penetrated by the wheel and the depth of penetration of the wheel into the bed is regulated to remain substantially constant as the tool moves along the line of cut.

Abstract: An interactive graphics system in which plotting, digitizing and other related capabilities are performed is described in which complex graphics may be generated, edited and developed at a plurality of terminals, independently, with a minimum of hardware and in which precision control of the motion of a plotting table at each location is achieved in response to simplified input commands. Additionally, a novel floating cursor is described by which an operator may control the motion of the carriages of a plotting table or other positioning system actuated during plotting on the table, and digitize various coordinate locations with corresponding storage in a central computer of such locations, all by manually positioning the cursor at the desired locations. The floating cursor is connected with an energy sensor and both the cursor and the sensor are mechanically movable relative to or independently of the carriage.