Granted Patent B2

US 12,611,735 · App. 17/396,654 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Inventor: Gabriele Lualdi (Fagagna, IT)

Assignee: HPF S.R.L.

B23K26/384B23K26/03B23K26/0823B23K26/0884B23K37/04

Abstract

Claims (31)

1 . An automated laser cutting station for the production of semi-finished cutting components for prosthetic surgery instruments, wherein said automated laser cutting station comprises:

at least one first automated operator configured to pick up hollow untreated components from a storage space and supply them to:

a laser cutting apparatus having a front loading zone and a rear working zone, the laser cutting apparatus further comprising:

a cutting chamber in which there is allocated a second automated operator, provided with a laser cutting head to make holes able to define a cutting part of said prosthetic surgery instrument on each of said untreated components, and a rotating mandrel configured to retain each of said untreated components on the rotating mandrel, wherein in response to rotation of the rotating mandrel the untreated component retained on the rotating mandrel rotates about its vertical Z axis, the rotating mandrel further being mounted to and positioned adjacent a periphery of a rotating table, and wherein the rotating table rotates to position the rotating mandrel having the untreated component received from the first automated operator retained thereon from the front loading zone disposed outside the cutting chamber, to the rear working zone disposed within the cutting chamber, the front loading zone and the rear working zone being separated by a fixed or movable septum;

a control unit configured to move said second automated operator in order to orient said laser cutting head along a cutting path for cutting each hole to be made, with respect to an external surface of the untreated component, wherein the control unit is arranged to move the laser cutting head on three cutting axes (X′, Y′, Z′), with the control unit further arranged to rotate the laser cutting head about at least one of the three cutting axes; and

wherein said laser cutting head is inclined by a first cutting angle, with respect to a reference plane tangent to the external surface passing through a center of the hole, to define a first edge of said hole, and is inclined by a second cutting angle with respect to said reference plane to define a second edge of said hole; and

further wherein the rotating mandrel includes a rotating base, and a plurality of expansion jaws operatively coupled to the rotating base and arranged to retain the untreated component on the rotating base.

2 . The automated laser cutting station as in claim 1 , wherein said first angle is comprised between about 80° and about 110°, said second angle is comprised between about 20° and about 40°.

3 . The automated laser cutting station as in claim 2 , wherein when making said hole, said control unit is configured to move said laser cutting head so that:

it aligns vertically above the center of the hole which has to be made, to then move toward a first attack point to produce said first edge,

it executes a cut inclined by the first cutting angle which goes from the first attack point to a second attack point in correspondence with which the second edge begins,

it executes a cut inclined by the second cutting angle which goes from the second attack point to a third attack point in correspondence with which the second edge ends,

it executes a cut inclined by the first cutting angle which goes from the third attack point to the first attack point to finish the production of the first edge.

4 . The automated laser cutting station as in claim 1 , wherein said automated station comprises measuring means configured to cooperate with said first automated operator to detect, on each occasion, a reference measurement of one of said untreated components to allow a correct positioning thereof on said rotating mandrel, and further wherein the rotating mandrel includes a plurality of jaws arranged to secure the untreated components to the rotating mandrel.

5 . The automated laser cutting station as in claim 1 , wherein said storage space comprises at least one tray having a support plane on which there are a plurality of modular positioning elements and at least one identification label, wherein with said modular positioning elements there are associated one or more adaptor elements which have shapes and sizes consistent with the shape of said components.

6 . A method to produce semi-finished components for prosthetic surgery cutting instruments starting from hollow untreated components that have at least one external surface, said method comprising:

providing a rotating table having a periphery and a rotating base;

providing a mandrel adjacent the periphery of the rotating table, the mandrel being rotatable about a vertical Z axis;

using a first automated operator to pick up at least one untreated component at a time from a storage space to position it on the mandrel disposed in a front loading zone inside a laser cutting apparatus;

moving the mandrel using the rotating table so as to move the untreated component from the loading zone to a rear working zone disposed inside a cutting chamber of said laser cutting apparatus;

providing expansion jaws operatively coupled to the rotatable base to secure the untreated component on the mandrel, and providing a fixed or movable septum between the front loading zone and the rear working zone;

rotating the mandrel to rotate the at least one untreated component about its Z axis to position the at least one untreated component in a defined position;

providing a control unit arranged to move the laser cutting head on three cutting axes (X′, Y′, Z′), with the control unit further arranged to rotate the laser cutting head about at least one of the three cutting axes; and

executing, using a second automated operator provided with a laser cutting head, a plurality of laser cutting workings on said untreated component to make holes able to define a cutting part of said surgical instrument, said laser cutting head being moved and oriented along a cutting path for cutting each hole with respect to the external surface of the untreated component being worked.

7 . The method as in claim 6 , wherein making said at least one hole comprises the following steps:

a first step, in which said laser cutting head is positioned vertically above a center of the hole which has to be made, to then move toward a first attack point to make a first edge of said hole,

a second step, in which the laser cutting head executes a cut inclined by a first cutting angle which goes from the first attack point to a second attack point in correspondence with which a second edge of said hole begins;

a third step, in which the laser cutting head executes a cut inclined by the a second cutting angle which goes from the second attack point to a third attack point in correspondence with which the second edge ends;

a fourth step, in which the laser cutting head executes a cut inclined by the first cutting angle which goes from the third attack point to the first attack point to finish the production of the first edge.

8 . The automated laser cutting station as in claim 1 , and further wherein the controller is arranged to have the laser cutting head cut auxiliary apertures on each of said untreated components, and wherein the auxiliary apertures comprise gripping holes, the gripping holes for manipulating the semi-finished component.

9 . The method as in claim 6 , including further arranging the controller to have the laser cutting head cut auxiliary apertures, wherein the auxiliary apertures comprise gripping holes, the gripping holes for manipulating the semi-finished component.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (12)