IP Library › Patent Application 11985222
Patent Application
App. No. 11/985,222

System and method for drawing and manufacturing bent pipes

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US None
App. No.
11/985,222
Abstract

Novel systems and methods of using a bent-tube object in a drawing file include entering a custom bent-tube object in a drawing file, and using the bent-tube object to generate bender driver data. In a particular method, the step of entering the custom bent-tube object in the drawing file includes entering a multi-segmented line, and generating the custom bent-tube object based at least in part on the lengths of and angles between the segments of the multi-segmented line. In a more particular method, the step of entering the custom bent-tube object further includes selecting a tube type (e.g., a particular diameter, material, etc.), and the step of generating the custom bent-tube object further includes retrieving bent-tube object data from an object data file based at least in part on the tube type.

Claims (47)

1 . A method of using a bent-tube object in a drawing file, comprising:

providing a drawing file with a bent-tube object and other drawing objects; and

using said bent-tube object to generate bender driver data.

2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of using said bent-tube object to generate bender driver data includes:

presenting said drawing file to a user;

receiving input from said user indicating the selection of said bent-tube object from among a plurality of objects in said drawing file; and

generating at least a portion of said bender driver data from said selected bent-tube object.

3 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein said other drawing objects include other bent-tube objects.

4 . A method according to claim 3 , wherein said step of generating at least a portion of said bender driver data includes generating bender driver data based at least in part on a tube type previously associated with said bent-tube object.

5 . A method according to claim 3 , wherein said step of generating at least a portion of said bender driver data includes generating bender driver data based at least in part on a tube diameter previously associated with said bent-tube object.

6 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of using said bent-tube object to generate said bender driver data includes extracting at least a portion of said bender driver data from said bent-tube object.

7 . A method according to claim 6 , wherein said step of using said bent-tube object to generate said bender driver data comprises:

extracting a portion of said bender driver data from said bent-tube object; and

retrieving another portion of said bender driver data from a separate bender driver data file.

8 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein said step of using said bent-tube object to generate said bender driver data further comprises:

selecting a bender type; and

retrieving said another portion of said bender driver data based at least in part on said bender type.

9 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising using said bender driver data to bend a tube.

10 . A method according to claim 9 , wherein said step of using said bender driver data to bend a tube includes converting said bender driver data from driver data for a first type of bender to driver data for a second type of bender.

11 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 1 .

12 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 2 .

13 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 3 .

14 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 4 .

15 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 5 .

16 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 6 .

17 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 7 .

18 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 8 .

19 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 9 .

20 . An electronically readable media having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to facilitate the steps of the method of claim 10 .

21 . A system for using a bent-tube object in a drawing file, said system comprising:

a drawing engine operative to load a drawing file including a plurality of drawing objects, said plurality of drawings objects including a bent-tube object;

a user input device operative to facilitate the selection of said bent-tube object from among said plurality of objects in said drawing file; and

an extraction module operative to generate bender driver data from said selected bent-tube object.

22 . A system according to claim 21 , wherein said plurality of drawing objects includes a plurality of bent-tube objects.

23 . A system according to claim 21 , wherein said bent-tube object includes a previously selected tube type.

24 . A system according to claim 23 , further comprising an object manager responsive to said previously selected tube type, and operative to retrieve bent-tube object data based at least in part on said tube type, and to include at least a portion of said bent-tube object data in said bent-tube object.

25 . A system according to claim 23 , wherein said previously selected tube type of said bent-tube object is based at least in part on a tube diameter.

26 . A system according to claim 21 , wherein said extraction module and said drawing engine are located on separate machines.

27 . A system according to claim 21 , wherein said extraction module is operative to generate said bender driver data by generating a portion of said bender data from said selected bent-tube object, and to retrieve another portion of said bender driver data from a separate data file.

28 . A system according to claim 27 , wherein said extraction module is operative to retrieve said another portion of said bender driver data based at least in part on a selected bender type.

29 . A system according to claim 21 , further comprising a transfer media operative to communicate said bender driver data to a tube bender.

30 . A system according to claim 21 , further comprising a data converter responsive to indicia of a selected bender type, and operative to convert said bender driver data to bender driver data compatible with said selected bender type.

31 . A system for using a bent-tube object in a drawing file, said system comprising:

a computer for loading a drawing file including a plurality of drawing objects, said plurality of drawing objects including a bent-tube object;

a selection device that facilitates user selection of said bent-tube object from said plurality of drawing objects; and

means for generating bender driver data from said selected bent-tube object.

32 . A system according to claim 31 , wherein said plurality of drawing objects includes a plurality of bent-tube objects.