Granted Patent B1

US 6,856,843 · App. 09/150,277 · Granted Feb 15, 2005

Abstract

Claims (51)

1. A method for displaying an image of a sheet material and for cutting parts from the sheet material comprising the steps of:

presenting a sheet material on a support surface;

providing a camera for acquiring a plurality of photographic image data frames, each frame being an image of an areal portion of the sheet material, each frame represented by a plurality of pixels in an X direction and a perpendicular Y direction;

modifying each acquired image data frame to correct distortions of the acquired image of the areal portion;

compiling the image data frames to form a composite photographic image of the areal portions of the sheet material;

displaying the composite image;

locating at least one part with respect to the composite image; and

cutting the part from the sheet material.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising user inspecting the displayed image to identify one of a periphery of the sheet material and a flaw in the sheet material.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising locating an image of a part with respect to the displayed image by user input.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising employing an algorithm to automatically identify at least a portion of a periphery of the sheet material.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of locating an image of a part with respect to the displayed image further comprises the steps of:

utilizing an algorithm for nesting a part periphery with respect to the composite image; and

cutting the part from the sheet material in accordance with said nesting.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calibrating a brightness of the acquired image data.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising incorporating flaw identification data in the image data.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calibrating the acquired image data for at least one of pincushioning, perspective distortion and rotation.

9. A method for displaying an image of a sheet material and for cutting parts from the sheet material comprising the steps of:

presenting a sheet material on a support surface;

providing a camera for acquiring a plurality of photographic image data frames, each frame being an image of an areal portion of the sheet material, each frame represented by a plurality of pixels in an X direction and a perpendicular Y direction;

modifying each acquired image data frame to correct for image distortions of the acquired image of the areal portion;

incorporating flaw identification data in the image data frames;

calibrating a brightness of the acquired image data frames;

compiling the image data frames to form a composite photographic image of the areal portions of the sheet material;

displaying the composite image;

identifying at least a portion of a periphery of the sheet material;

nesting a part periphery with respect to the composite image; and

cutting the part from the sheet material in accordance with said nesting.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising calibrating the acquired image data for at least one of pincushioning, perspective distortion and rotation.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of incorporating flaw identification in the image data, further comprises placing an optically identifiable flaw indicator adjacent a flaw in the sheet material.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising identifying a flaw in the sheet material using an algorithm.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising nesting a plurality of parts with respect to the identified portion of the periphery.

14. An apparatus for cutting parts from a sheet material comprising:

a support surface for supporting a sheet material;

a cutting assembly coupled to the support surface for movement with respect to the support surface;

a camera for obtaining photographic image data of a sheet material on the support surface, the camera coupled to the cutting assembly for movement with the cutting assembly, the camera selected to obtain the image data in a plurality of frames, each frame including a plurality of pixels in an X direction and a plurality of pixels in a perpendicular Y direction; and

a processor having storage means coupled to the camera and cutting assembly;

means for calibrating said image data frames;

means for combining said calibrated image data frames to obtain a composite photographic image of at least a portion of the sheet material; and

a display coupled to the processor for displaying said composite image.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising means for nesting parts with respect to the calibrated image data.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the calibration means corrects for one of pincushioning, perspective distortions and rotation.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the calibration means adjusts a brightness of the captured image data.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising means for identifying a flaw in the sheet material.

19. The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising a means for identifying at least a portion of the periphery of the sheet material.

20. A method of acquiring image data from a sheet material, comprising:

presenting a sheet material on a support surface;

moving a camera with respect to the support surface to capture a plurality of photographic images of portions of the sheet material, each image including a plurality of pixels in an X direction and a plurality of pixels in a perpendicular Y direction;

modifying each said image to correct distortions therein; and

compiling said modified images to form a composite photographic image of a portion of the sheet material.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising the step of displaying said composite image.

Assignments (7)