Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
Applicants: Boehringer Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
Our file: 50313 AI/Gr/US
Control console for controlling machine movements
The invention concerns control consoles for controlling machines, for
example lathes.
The control of physical components on a machine is not to be
confused with the control of a cursor on a monitor surface of a computer,
1o which is nowadays usually implemented with a computer mouse.
In the case of a computer mouse of that kind, for example in
accordance with German utility model No G 84 19 546.0 or US patent No 5
095 303, it is certainly known that such a mouse includes actuating
members in the form of actuating wheels, the axes of rotation of which are
arranged at a right angle to each other in the casing of the computer
mouse.
However, the position of the axis of rotation of the actuating wheel of
the computer mouse is not spatially defined in terms of its relationship with
the movement implemented thereby of the cursor on the monitor screen,
ZO as this depends on the position of the mouse in relation to the computer,
and in addition the cursor can only ever be moved two-dimensionally and
not three-dimensionally on the monitor screen surface, quite apart from the
fact that this does not involve a physical component.
Moreover, a computer mouse of that kind is not fixedly arranged on
z5 a machine, for example a machine tool.
Control consoles of conventional kind on machine tools are usually
controlled by actuating members which are arranged on parallel axes and
which are operated by a rotational movement, such as for example hand
wheels. Those actuating members have an actuating range of several
3o revolutions, with the displacement distance of the movement produced
usually being proportional to the angle of rotational movement of the
actuating member. Those control consoles are frequently used to control
processes which in the event of incorrect control, can cause considerable
1
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
damage, for example on machine tools. This arrangement of the actuating
members is governed by historical considerations as originally those hand
wheels were used to manually apply the energy for moving the machining
tool. Nowadays the actuating members serve only for information input and
movement of the machining tool is effected by a drive, for example by
electric motors.
That concept suffers from serious deficiencies from the point of view
of manifestness, in particular directional manifestness, that is to say
coincidence in terms of actuating members and the arrangement thereof.
Translatory movements which are perpendicular to each other are
controlled by rotational movements about axes which are parallel to each
other. In other words, the association of identical actuating movements
with the movements produced requires various contradictory internal
models on the part of the user of the machine.
In that respect a particular problem arises out of the association of
the direction of rotation of the actuating member, on the direction of
movement executed at the machine.
By virtue of the described arrangement, on the one hand there is a
safety risk in terms of using machines, in particular in regard to
la
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
spontaneous reactions to critical states. In addition, there is an increased
amount of learning involved as actuating member arrangements which are
not manifest require increased training.
Accordingly the object of the present invention is to provide a control
console which, while using actuating members operated with a rotational
movement, permits simple, manifest and thus reliable control of machine
movements.
That object is attained by the features of claims 1 and 15.
Advantageous embodiments are set forth in the appendant claims.
1o By virtue of the correspondence between the actuating movement
implemented by the operator at the actuating member, in particular an
actuating wheel, and the component movement executed thereby, there is
no need for mental conversion operations as between an actuating
movement and a component movement on the part of the operator, as in
the case of the earlier actuating wheels which produced component
movement by means of screwthreaded spindles, and the electromechanical
actuating wheels which were later used in a similar manner, with the same
operative direction.
The fact that the actuating wheels are partially covered over by the
2o housing of the control console means that only a small contact region or
engagement point is at all accessible for the operator on the actuating
wheel so that the actuating movement produced is also always clearly
defined, that is to say, different actuating movements or tangential
directions thereof cannot be imagined by virtue of different points of
engagement of the operator with the actuating wheel.
By virtue of the arrangement at a right angle of both the component
movements and also the actuating movements relative to each other, the
possibility of moving to any point within a displacement plane or a three-
dimensional displacement space by means of the two or three possible
actuating movements is also manifest, without the necessity for a mental
geometrical re-interpretation process.
The direct and in particular simultaneous implementation of the
component movement, by virtue of the actuating movement, additionally
2
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
makes it possible, when using an actuating wheel as an actuating member,
to imagine a rolling motion in which the actuating wheel which would have
to be arranged virtually at the associated component rolls with a point on
its periphery on the structural member carrying that component to be
moved, while on the opposite side it is caused to rotate by the operator.
To assist with that notion, it is advantageous if the actuating
member is rotatable through a full revolution and preferably any number of
successive revolutions.
It is also advantageous if the individual actuating members are in
closely adjacent relationship, in particular being combined together in one
and the same housing as a control console, in order to permit optical
correlation in respect of the actuating movements produced and thus also
the component movements executed.
It is also advantageous for the actuating movement and the
component movement, which are directed in parallel relationship, to be
kept as small as possible in terms of their mutual spacing and in particular
as far as possible to coincide, so that the tangential direction of the
rotational actuating movement is experienced as a direct push on the
associated component to be moved.
z0 For that purpose however it is generally necessary for the respective
actuating member to be arranged directly at the associated component to
be moved, so that as a consequence the individual actuating members can
be distributed to different components and not combined in a common
housing, that is to say in a common control console.
As conversion of the actuating movement into the component
movement is preferably effected electrically or electromechanically, the
displacement distance and displacement speed of the component to be
moved can be correlated with the kind of actuating movement, in different
ways.
The magnitude of the deflection of the actuating member or
actuating wheel can be correlated either with the speed or with the distance
of the component movement to be implemented. Likewise the speed of the
3
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
deflection of the actuating member can be correlated with the speed of the
component movement.
In that respect, depending on the notion of a virtual rolling
movement, the following correlation is to be preferred:
- the magnitude of the deflection of the actuating member
corresponds to the length of the component movement; and
- the speed of the deflection of the actuating member corresponds to
the speed of the component movement.
Preferably, in addition there is to be provided a respective optical
l0 display in respect of the absolute position of and/or the distance covered
by
the component to be moved, in particular in the form of a digital display.
In this respect, preferably the respective actuating wheel should be
rotatable with such a small amount of force and,ior should involve such a
great inherent mass that a one-time actuation of the actuating wheel by
the operator at the point of engagement therean can produce multiple
revolutions of the actuating wheel and a correspondingly great actuating
movement and a component movement implemented thereby.
If in that respect the actuating movement and the associated
component movement should go beyond the maximum permissible
displacement range, safety elements which have an automatic deceleration
function are to be provided at least at the components to be moved, that is
to say limit switches and/or switches arranged in front of the components,
for reducing the speed of displacement.
Embodiments according to the invention are described in greater
Z5 detail by way of example hereinafter. In the drawing:
Figure 1 shows a control console with two actuating wheels,
Figure 2 shows a control console with two actuating wheels which are
only partly accessible,
Figure 3 shows a control console with three actuating wheels which
are each only partly accessible,
Figures 4 show sectional views of a component to be moved, with
actuating wheel, and
4
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
Figures 5 show plan views on to a turning machine or lathe with the
control console according to the invention.
Figure 1 is a three-dimensional view of a control console with a
cuboidal housing. The machine or machine components at which the control
console is arranged or which are to be moved by means of the control
console are not shown. The same applies in regard to Figures 2 and 3.
In Figure 1, a respective actuating wheel la, lb is rotatably arranged
at two adjacent vertical surfaces, which are at a right angle to each other,
of the cuboidal housing 3, insofar as the cylindrical actuating wheels 1b are
to supported with their face on the side walls of the housing 3 of the control
console 4.
The axes of rotation 2a, 2b of the actuating wheels la, lb are
therefore perpendicular to the side wall carrying the respective actuating
wheel and also at a right angle to each other so that the axes of rotation
2a, 2b define a horizontal plane which in particular is parallel to the
underside and the top side of the cuboidal housing 3.
If the actuating movement involved is imagined as touching the
actuating wheels la, 1b at the highest point thereon at their peripheral
surface and thereby causing the actuating wheels to rotate, the respective
actuating movement 9a is the tangent to the periphery of the actuating
wheel at the highest point thereof. The actuating movement 9a and 9b
respectively is then parallel to the component movement 10a, lOb, that is
to say the movement, produced by the movement of the actuating wheel
1a or lb, of the component, coupled thereto, of the machine which is not
shown in Figure 1.
In that respect it is immaterial whether engagement of the actuating
wheel by the hand of the operator actually occurs at the highest point of
the actuating' wheel or at other locations on the periphery thereof. In that
case the actuating movement is only the notional direction of engagement
on the actuating wheel la, lb.
In order to bring that conceived notion into harmony with the real
handling of the actuating wheel la and lb respectively, then preferably, as
shown in Figure 2, the actuating wheel 1a, 1b is enclosed in part as shown
5
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
in Figure z or preferably over its entire axial extent, over a large part of
its
periphery, by the housing 3 of the control console so that only a limited
angular sector, the contact region 1z at the top side of the actuating
wheels la, lb which are positioned with horizontal axes of rotation 2a, 2b,
is accessible for the operator. In that case the actual direction of
engagement of the actuating movement 9a and 9b is again in conformity in
regard to direction with the component movements 10a, lOb which are to
be implemented thereby.
Figure 4a shows in regard to the actuating wheel la a sectional view
l0 including the component 8a to be moved. It is displaceable along the bed 6
in the direction of viewing Figure 4a, this being the component movement
10a. That component movement l0a is implemented by rotation of the
actuating wheel la whose axis of rotation extends horizontally, like the
direction of displacement of the component 8a, but at a right angle thereto.
In Figure 4a the actuating wheel 2a is also accessible only in its uppermost
angular segment, and is otherwise covered by the housing 3 of the control
console 4, which is constructed in one piece together with the component
8a. By touching and displacing the upwardly disposed peripheral regions of
the actuating wheel 1a in the direction of viewing Figure 4a, that is to say
z0 in the actuating movement direction 9a, the component 8a is caused to
move along the bed 6 in the component movement direction 10a.
In that respect, the actuating wheel 1a is not accessible over its
entire axial extent but only over a portion thereof and in addition in an
arcuate portion of the face, in that the large part of the face which faces
z5 towards the operator is covered over by the housing 3, while the opposite
face is completely covered over and the peripheral surface on the side
remote from the operator is also completely enclosed by the housing 3,
whereas in the remaining region it is enclosed only over a large part of the
periphery.
30 In contrast thereto, in the structure shown in Figure 4b, the
actuating wheel 2a projects with its highest region out of the flat top side
of
the housing 3 which is designed in one piece with the component 8a which
is to be moved by the actuating wheel la.
6
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
Figure 3 is a perspective view similarly to Figure 2 showing a control
console which differs in that a third actuating wheel 1c is again arranged
rotatably about its axis of rotation 2c on the cuboidal housing 3 of the
control console 4. In this case the axis of rotation 2c is parallel to one of
the axes of rotation of the other two actuating wheels, for example the axis
of rotation 2a, and thus projects perpendicularly out of the one vertical side
face of the housing 3. In this arrangement, the peripheral surface of the
actuating wheel lc projects slightly above the second side face which is
adjacent thereto and which is also vertical and at an angle to the first-
mentioned side face, and thereby forms here the region for engagement by
the operator. The direction of engagement and thus the actuating
movement is vertical and the component movement implemented thereby
in respect of the movement-coupled machine component (not shown) is the
direction of movement lOc which is also vertical.
Figure 5a shows a plan view of a turning machine or lathe equipped
with the control console according to the invention. Disposed on a bed 6 at
the left-hand end is the headstock 13 with the jaw chuck 14 which projects
therefrom at the end thereof and which has the known clamping jaws at
the free face. Opposite thereto at the right-hand end of the machine bed 6
zo is the tailstock 15 with the dead center which is directed therefrom
towards
the chuck.
Extending along the bed 6 are guide tracks 17 which are horizontal
and in mutually parallel relationship and on which a longitudinal slide 8a is
displaceable.
Extending in turn on the longitudinal slide 8a are guide tracks 16
which are directed transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of
the bed 6 and which are spaced relative to each other and along which a
cross slide 8b is displaceable in order to move a tool (not shown) carried
thereon into the desired position with respect to the bed 6 of the machine.
The control console 4 is fitted on to the cross slide 8b with its
cuboidal housing 3. Two actuating wheels la, lb project with their
peripheral surface slightly upwardly out of the top side of the housing 3,
which in particular is arranged horizontally.
7
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
In that arrangement the actuating wheels la, lb are rotatable in the
housing 3 about horizontally disposed axes of rotation which are at a right
angle to each other, the axes of rotation in one case extending parallel to
the longitudinal direction of the machine, that is to say the turning center,
and in the other case at a right angle thereto, in each case being
horizontal.
In this case, the longitudinal slide 8a is moved by means of that
actuating wheel la whose axis of rotation extends transversely with respect
to the turning center of the machine, while the cross slide 8b is displaced
to along the longitudinal slide 8a, by means of the other actuating wheel lb
whose axis of rotation is parallel to the turning center, thereby affording
the associations of actuating movements with component movements
corresponding to Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 5b shows the same view illustrating a similar structure, with
the only difference being that in this case the control console 4 with the
once again cuboidal housing 3 is not arranged on the cross slide 8b which is
displaceable on the longitudinal slide 8a, but it is arranged at the front of
the longitudinal slide 8a, projecting therefrom horizontally forwardly,
transversely with respect to the turning center of the machine 7.
zo The arrangement of the actuating wheels la, lb in the housing 3,
with a contact region only at the top side of the actuating wheels,
protruding slightly out of the top side of the housing 3, is identical to the
structure shown in Figure 5a.
Figure 5c in turn differs only by virtue of the arrangement of the
z5 control console: it is now disposed on the bed 6 of the machine, that is to
say immovably. The arrangement of the actuating wheels la, lb in the
housing 3 of the control consoles 4 is again identical to the arrangement
shown in Figures 5a and 5b and likewise again the association with the
movable components 8a, 8b.
8
CA 02343230 2001-03-08
LIST OF REFERENCES
la, 1b actuating wheel
2a, 2b axes of rotation
3 housing
control console
plane of movement
bed
machine
8a, 8b component
9a, 9b, c actuating movement
9
lOa,lOb,lOc component movement
11 operator
12 contact region/engagement
point
13 headstock
14 jaw chuck
15 tailstock
16 guide plane
1~ guide plane
9
