U.S. patent number RE44,696 [Application Number 13/237,247] was granted by the patent office on 2014-01-07 for automated engraving of a customized jewelry item.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Jostens, Inc.. The grantee listed for this patent is Carlos D. Carbonera, Michael J. Frisch, Yuriy Malinin, Timothy D. Saarela. Invention is credited to Carlos D. Carbonera, Michael J. Frisch, Yuriy Malinin, Timothy D. Saarela.
United States Patent |
RE44,696 |
Saarela , et al. |
January 7, 2014 |
Automated engraving of a customized jewelry item
Abstract
A method for manufacturing a ring (i.e. class, championship, or
affiliation) begins by receiving order data specifying a series of
personalization elements, such as the addition of text and icon
designs. A geometric model for each personalization item is
constructed. To assemble text panels, the operating system provides
font geometry for a desired TrueType font. Then a set of splines
are created from the font geometry and are then tessellated to
generate polyline sets of data, which are then spaced and mapped
between two boundary curves. The personalization elements are then
projected onto one of the model's 3D surfaces. A set of machining
instructions for a milling machine is generated by obtaining a set
of machining pattern strategies, generating a set of curves,
projecting the toolpath onto the surface of the ring to calculate
the 3D toolpath, and rotating it to a desired angle.
Inventors: |
Saarela; Timothy D. (Lakeville,
MN), Carbonera; Carlos D. (St. Paul, MN), Frisch; Michael
J. (St. Louis Park, MN), Malinin; Yuriy (Edina, MN) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Saarela; Timothy D.
Carbonera; Carlos D.
Frisch; Michael J.
Malinin; Yuriy |
Lakeville
St. Paul
St. Louis Park
Edina |
MN
MN
MN
MN |
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Jostens, Inc. (Minneapolis,
MN)
|
Family
ID: |
32468712 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/237,247 |
Filed: |
September 20, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
10315475 |
Dec 10, 2002 |
7069108 |
|
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Reissue of: |
11415724 |
May 2, 2006 |
7593786 |
Sep 22, 2009 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
700/193; 700/118;
700/117 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B44B
3/009 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
19/00 (20110101) |
Field of
Search: |
;700/95,97,98,118,159,160,180,181,182,184,186,187,190,193
;29/700,896.4,896.41,896.411,896.412 ;63/3,15 ;703/1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2536969 |
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Jun 1984 |
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FR |
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2829366 |
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Mar 2003 |
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FR |
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2880521 |
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Jul 2006 |
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FR |
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2003150666 |
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May 2003 |
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JP |
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0057254 |
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Aug 2000 |
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WO |
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WO 01/93156 |
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Dec 2001 |
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WO |
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WO 2004/053653 |
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Jun 2004 |
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WO |
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|
Primary Examiner: Kasenge; Charles
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A.
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
This patent application is a continuation of and claims benefit
under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) to U.S. patent application Ser. No.
10/315,475, filed Dec. 10, 2002, entitled "Automated Engraving of a
Customized Jewelry Item," now U.S. Pat. No. 7,069,108, issued Jun.
27, 2006, the content of which is incorporated herein in its
entirety for all purposes.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for manufacturing a customized jewelry item,
comprising: receiving order data, where the order data specifies a
first personalization element; constructing a geometric model for
the customized jewelry item; scaling the first personalization
element to proper size; projecting the first personalization
element onto a three dimensional surface of the geometric model;
and converting the geometric model into a set of machinery
instructions for a milling machine compensating for cutter
geometry; wherein the cutter geometry is tapered or cylindrical;
and wherein the step of converting the geometric model into a set
of machining instructions comprises: obtaining a plurality of
machining patterns and associated cutting tools; generating a first
set of curves that define a first two dimensional toolpath based on
cutter geometry for a first machining pattern from the plurality of
machining patterns; projecting the first two dimensional toolpath
onto a surface of the customized item to generate a first
.[.resulting.]. .Iadd.three dimensional .Iaddend.toolpath; rotating
the first three dimensional toolpath by a first angle associated
with the surface of the customized item to obtain a first resulting
toolpath; repeating steps of generating, projecting and rotating
for a second machining pattern from the plurality of machining
patterns to obtain a second resulting toolpath; appending the
second resulting toolpath to the first resulting footpath to
generate a master toolpath; and converting coordinates from the
master toolpath to a generic format file; wherein each of the steps
is executed by one or more processors.
2. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim 1,
wherein the machining patterns are chosen from the group
comprising: a raster pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram techniques
are used to generate two dimensional offsets defined by text
geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; a profile pattern,
wherein Voronoi diagram techniques are used to generate two
dimensional offsets defined by text geometry, cutting tool shape,
and cutting depth; a skeleton pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram
techniques are used to generate medial axis transforms defined by
text geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; a two
dimensional curve machining with surface projection pattern; and a
three dimensional curve machining pattern.
3. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim 1,
further comprising reformatting the generic format file to a
mill-specific file format.
4. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim 1,
wherein the steps of constructing, scaling, projecting and
converting are done on demand when new order data is received.
5. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim 1,
wherein the step of constructing a geometric model comprises:
retrieving one or more icon panels from a repository; and
assembling one or more text panels for a personalization text in a
specified font.
6. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim 1,
wherein the order data specifies a second personalization element,
and further comprising repeating the steps of scaling and
projecting for the second personalization element.
7. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim 1,
wherein the order data is stored in a database.
8. A method for manufacturing a customized jewelry item,
comprising: receiving order data, where the order data specifies a
first personalization element; constructing a geometric model for
the customized jewelry item by retrieving one or more icon panels
from a repository and assembling one or more text panels for a
personalization text in a specified font; scaling the first
personalization element to proper size; projecting the first
personalization element onto a three dimensional surface of the
geometric model; and converting the geometric model into a set of
machinery instructions for a milling machine compensating for
cutter geometry; wherein the cutter geometry is tapered or
cylindrical; and wherein the step of assembling comprises:
retrieving the personalization text and a design number from the
order data; receiving font information for the specified font;
requesting and receiving font geometry from an operating system;
constructing a plurality of splines from the font geometry; mapping
the personalization text onto a two dimensional frame using the
font geometry; tessellating the plurality of splines for generating
a polyline data representation, wherein the polyline data
representation comprises a plurality of polyline sets, wherein each
of the polyline sets describes a character of the personalization
text; processing each of the polyline sets based on kerning data
for properly spacing each character of the personalization text;
and mapping the polyline data representation between two boundary
curves; wherein each of the steps is executed by one or more
processors.
9. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim 8,
wherein the step of mapping the personalization text further
comprises obtaining a set of configuration parameters from a
database.
10. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim 9,
wherein the set of configuration parameters comprise: a font name
parameter, a character spacing parameter, a character thickness
parameter, a character type parameter, an upper boundary curve
parameter, and a lower boundary curve parameter.
11. A system: for manufacturing a customized item, comprising: an
order module that receives order data, where the order data
specifies a first personalization element; a construction module
that constructs a geometric model for the customized item; a
scaling module that scales the first personalization element to
proper size; a projection module that projects the first
personalization element onto a three dimensional surface of the
geometric model; and a conversion module that converts the
geometric model into a set of machining instructions for a milling
machine compensating for cutter geometry; wherein the cutter
geometry is tapered or cylindrical; and wherein the construction
module comprises a panel retrieval module that retrieves one or
more icon panels from a repository; and wherein the conversion
module comprises: a pattern retrieval module that obtains a
plurality of machining patterns and associated cutting tools; a
curve generation module that generates a first set of curves that
define a first two dimensional toolpath based on cutter geometry
for a first machining pattern from the plurality of machining
patterns; a toolpath projection module that projects the first two
dimensional toolpath onto a surface of the customized item to
generate a first three dimensional toolpath; a toolpath rotation
module that rotates the first three dimensional toolpath by a first
angle associated with the surface of the customized item to obtain
a first resulting toolpath; a second toolpath creation module that
leverages the curve generation module, the toolpath projection
module, and the toolpath rotation module for a second machining
pattern from the plurality of machining patterns to obtain a second
resulting toolpath; an master toolpath creation module that appends
the second resulting toolpath to the first resulting toolpath to
generate a master toolpath; and a generic toolpath creation module
that converts coordinates from the master toolpath to a generic
format file; wherein one or more of the modules reside on a server
and wherein one or more steps performed by the modules are
performed by a processor of the server.
12. The system for manufacturing a customized item from claim 11,
wherein the machining patterns are chosen from the group
comprising: a raster pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram techniques
are used to generate two dimensional offsets defined by text
geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; a profile pattern,
wherein Voronoi diagram techniques are used to generated two
dimensional offsets defined by text geometry, cutting tool shape,
and cutting depth; a skeleton pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram
techniques are used to generate medial axis transforms defined by
text geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; a two
dimensional curve machining with surface projection pattern; and a
three dimensional curve machining pattern.
13. The system for manufacturing a customized item from claim 11,
further comprising a file generation module that reformats the
generic format file to a mill-specific file format.
14. The system for manufacturing a customized item from claim 11,
wherein the construction module further comprises: a panel assembly
module that assembles one or more text panels for a personalization
text in a specified font.
15. The system for manufacturing a customized item from claim 11,
wherein the order data specifies a second personalization element,
and further comprising using the scaling module and the projection
module for the second personalization element.
16. The system for manufacturing a customized item from claim 11,
further comprising a database, wherein the order data is stored in
the database.
17. A system for manufacturing a customized item, comprising: an
order module that receives order data, where the order data
specifies a first personalization element; a construction module
that constructs a geometric model for the customized item, the
construction module including a panel assembly module that
assembles one or more text panels for a personalization text in a
specified font; a scaling module that scales the first
personalization element to proper size; a projection module that
projects the first personalization element onto a three dimensional
surface of the geometric model; and a conversion module that
converts the geometric model into a set of machining instructions
for a milling machine compensating for cutter geometry; wherein the
cutter geometry is tapered or cylindrical; and wherein the
construction module comprises a panel retrieval module that
retrieves one or more icon panels from a repository; and wherein
the panel assembly module comprises: a text retrieval module that
retrieves the personalization text and a design number from the
order data; a font information module that received font
information for the specified font; a font geometry module that
requests and receives font geometry from a an operating system; a
spline construction module that constructs a plurality of splines
from the font geometry; a frame mapping module that maps the
personalization text onto a two dimensional frame using the font
geometry; a tessellating that tessellates the plurality of splines
for generating a polyline data representation, wherein the polyline
data representation comprises a plurality of polyline sets, wherein
each of the polyline sets describes a character of the
personalization text; a polyline processing module that processes
each of the polyline sets based on kerning data for properly
spacing each character of the personalization text; and a polyline
mapping module that maps the polyline data representation between
two boundary curves; wherein one or more of the modules reside on a
server and wherein one or more steps performed by the modules are
performed by a processor of the server.
18. The system for manufacturing a customized item from claim 17,
wherein the frame mapping module further comprises a configuration
retrieval module that obtains a set of configuration parameters
from a database.
19. The system for manufacturing a customized item from claim 18,
wherein the set of configuration parameters comprise: a font name
parameter, a character spacing parameter, a character thickness
parameter, a character type parameter, an upper boundary curve
parameter, and a lower boundary curve parameter.
20. The system for manufacturing a customized item from claim 17,
wherein the construction module, the scaling module, the projection
module, and the conversion module are executed on demand when new
order data is received.
21. A computer program embodied on a .Iadd.non-transitory
.Iaddend.computer readable medium, when executed by a computer
configures the computer to manufacture a customized item, the
computer program comprising: a code segment for receiving order
data, where the order data specifies a first personalization
element; a code segment for constructing a geometric model for the
customized item; a code segment for scaling the first
personalization element onto a three dimensional surface of the
geometric model; and a code segment for converting the geometric
model into a set of machining instructions for a milling machine
compensating for cutter geometry; wherein the cutter geometry is
tapered or cylindrical; and wherein the code segment for
constructing a geometric model comprises a code segment for
assembling one or more text panels for a personalization text in a
specified font; and wherein the code segment for converting the
geometric model into a set of machining instructions comprises: a
code segment for obtaining a plurality of machining patterns and
associated cutting tools; a code segment for generating a first set
of curves that define a first two dimensional toolpath based on
cutter geometry for a first machining pattern from the plurality of
machining patterns; a code segment for projecting the first two
dimensional toolpath onto a surface of the customized item to
generate a first three dimensional toolpath; a code segment for
rotating the first three dimensional toolpath by a first angle
associated with the surface of the customized item to obtain a
first resulting toolpath; a code segment for repeating the use of
the code segment for generating, the code segment for projecting
and the code segment for rotating a process a second machining
pattern from the plurality of machining patterns, to obtain a
second resulting toolpath; a code segment for appending the second
resulting toolpath to the first resulting toolpath to generate a
master toolpath; a code segment for converting coordinates from the
master toolpath to a generic format file.
22. The computer program for manufacturing a customized item from
claim 21, wherein the machining patterns are chosen from the group
comprising: a raster pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram techniques
are used to generate two dimensional offsets defined by text
geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; a profile pattern,
wherein Voronoi diagram techniques are used to generate two
dimensional offsets defined by text geometry, cutting tool shape,
and cutting depth; a skeleton pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram
techniques are used to generate medial axis transforms defined by
text geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; a light
skeleton pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram techniques are used to
generate medial axis transforms defined by text geometry, cutting
tool shape, and cutting depth; a two dimensional curve machining
with surface projection pattern; and a three dimensional curve
machining pattern.
23. The computer program for manufacturing a customized item from
claim 21, further comprising a code segment for reformatting the
generic format file to a mill-specific file format.
24. The computer program for manufacturing a customized item from
claim 21, wherein the code segment for constructing, the code
segment for scaling, the code segment for projecting and the code
segment for converting are executed on demand when new order data
is received.
25. The computer program for manufacturing a customized item from
claim 21, wherein the code segment for constructing a geometric
model farther comprises: a code segment for retrieving one or more
icon panels for a repository.
26. A computer program embodied on a .Iadd.non-transitory
.Iaddend.computer readable medium, when executed by a computer
configures the computer to manufacture a customized item, the
computer program comprising: a code segment for receiving order
data, where the order data specifies a first personalization
element; a code segment for constructing a geometric model for the
customized item, the code segment including a code segment for
retrieving one or more icon panels for a repository; a code segment
for scaling the first personalization element onto a three
dimensional surface of the geometric model; and a code segment for
converting the geometric model into a set of machining instructions
for a milling machine compensating for cutter geometry; wherein the
cutter geometry is tapered or cylindrical; wherein the code segment
for constructing a geometric model comprises a code segment for
assembling one or more text panels for a personalization text in a
specified font; and wherein the code segment for assembling
comprises: a code segment for retrieving the personalization text
and a design number from the order data; a code segment for
receiving font information for the specified font; a code segment
for requesting and receiving font geometry from an operating
system; a code segment for constructing a plurality of splines from
the font geometry; a code segment for mapping the personalization
text onto a two dimensional frame using the font geometry; a code
segment for tessellating the plurality of splines for generating a
polyline data representation, wherein the polyline data
representation comprises a plurality of polyline sets, wherein each
of the polyline sets .Iadd.is .Iaddend.based on kerning data for
properly spacing each character of personalization text; and a code
segment for mapping the polyline .[.text.]. .Iadd.data
.Iaddend.representation between two boundary curves.
27. The computer program for manufacturing a customized item from
claim 26, wherein the code segment for mapping the personalization
text further comprises a code segment for obtaining a set of
configuration parameters from a database.
28. The computer program for manufacturing a customized item from
claim 27, wherein the set of configuration parameters comprise: a
font name parameter, a character spacing parameter, a character
thickness parameter, a character type parameter, an upper boundary
curve parameter, and lower boundary curve parameter.
29. The computer program for manufacturing a customized item from
claim 26, wherein the order data specifies a second personalization
element, and further comprising using the code segment for scaling
and the code segment for converting to process the second
personalization element.
30. The computer program for manufacturing a customized item from
claim 26, wherein the order data is stored in a database.
.Iadd.31. A method for manufacturing a customized jewelry item,
comprising: converting a geometric model into a set of machinery
instructions for a milling machine, comprising: obtaining a
plurality of machining patterns and associated cutting tools;
generating a first set of curves that define a first two
dimensional toolpath based on cutter geometry for a first machining
pattern from the plurality of machining patterns; projecting the
first two dimensional toolpath onto a surface of the customized
item to generate a first three dimensional toolpath; rotating the
first three dimensional toolpath by a first angle associated with
the surface of the customized item to obtain a first resulting
toolpath; repeating steps of generating, projecting and rotating
for a second machining pattern from the plurality of machining
patterns to obtain a second resulting toolpath; appending the
second resulting toolpath to the first resulting toolpath to
generate a master toolpath; and converting coordinates from the
master toolpath to a generic format file; wherein each of the steps
is executed by one or more processors..Iaddend.
.Iadd.32. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim
31, wherein the machining patterns are chosen from the group
comprising: a raster pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram techniques
are used to generate two dimensional offsets defined by text
geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; a profile pattern,
wherein Voronoi diagram techniques are used to generate two
dimensional offsets defined by text geometry, cutting tool shape,
and cutting depth; a skeleton pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram
techniques are used to generate medial axis transforms defined by
text geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; a two
dimensional curve machining with surface projection pattern; and a
three dimensional curve machining pattern..Iaddend.
.Iadd.33. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim
31, further comprising reformatting the generic format file to a
mill-specific file format..Iaddend.
.Iadd.34. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim
31, further comprising: constructing the geometric model for the
customized jewelry item; and projecting the first personalization
element onto a three dimensional surface of the geometric model;
wherein the steps of constructing, projecting, and converting are
done on demand when new order data is received..Iaddend.
.Iadd.35. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim
31, wherein the step of constructing a geometric model comprises:
retrieving one or more icon panels from a repository; and
assembling one or more text panels for a personalization text in a
specified font..Iaddend.
.Iadd.36. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim
34, wherein the order data specifies a second personalization
element, and further comprising repeating the step of projecting
for the second personalization element..Iaddend.
.Iadd.37. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim
34, wherein the order data is stored in a database..Iaddend.
.Iadd.38. A method for manufacturing a customized jewelry item,
comprising: constructing a geometric model for the customized
jewelry item by retrieving one or more icon panels from a
repository and assembling one or more text panels for a
personalization text in a specified font; wherein the step of
assembling comprises: retrieving the personalization text and a
design number from order data; receiving font information for the
specified font; requesting and receiving font geometry from an
operating system; constructing a plurality of splines from the font
geometry; mapping the personalization text onto a two dimensional
frame using the font geometry; tessellating the plurality of
splines for generating a polyline data representation, wherein the
polyline data representation comprises a plurality of polyline
sets, wherein each of the polyline sets describes a character of
the personalization text; processing each of the polyline sets
based on kerning data for properly spacing each character of the
personalization text; and mapping the polyline data representation
between two boundary curves; wherein each of the steps is executed
by one or more processors..Iaddend.
.Iadd.39. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim
38, wherein the step of mapping the personalization text further
comprises obtaining a set of configuration parameters from a
database..Iaddend.
.Iadd.40. The method for manufacturing a customized item from claim
39, wherein the set of configuration parameters comprise: a font
name parameter, a character spacing parameter, a character
thickness parameter, a character type parameter, an upper boundary
curve parameter, and a lower boundary curve parameter..Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The process of the present invention relates to the manufacture of
personalized items such as jewelry. More particularly, the process
of the present invention relates to an automated system that
receives custom orders for personalized rings (i.e., class,
championship, and affiliation) and generates the machining
instructions that enable a milling machine to create the
personalized ring from a wax blank.
Class rings have been a popular keepsake among students for
generations. Originally, they were relatively uniform and provided
students little opportunity to express themselves. Over time,
automated manufacturing processes made it possible to provide
students customizing choices. Modern students are driving the class
ring market toward a level of customization that has been
previously economically impractical using present manufacturing
methods.
Present manufacturing methods include the use of computer aided
design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM). CAD/CAM has
facilitated producing customized rings in large quantities. The
present level of customization provides personalized features such
as: student's name, school name, graduation year, icons, academic
degrees, and the like.
Traditionally, the use of CAD/CAM in the jewelry industry has been
primarily focused on the manufacture of custom molds and engraving
or otherwise machining the jewelry directly. These two approaches
have limitations. Machining molds using CAD/CAM is too expensive
for single-use custom applications. Engraving jewelry is also
expensive due to the precious metal lost to scrap, manufacturing
errors and ordering errors.
CAD/CAM technology is also difficult to automate for the purpose of
making personalized products. It one legacy system, a CAD/CAM
operator manually manipulates a geometric model of a ring by
grabbing a surface on the blank geometric model, defining the
boundary splines, projecting the text or graphic onto the surface
and then instructing the CAD/CAM software to generate machining
instructions for the geometric model that has been created. The
machining instructions result in a desired toolpath for a computer
numerically controlled ("CNC") milling machine. Using human
operators to repeat these steps manually in order to generate the
machining instructions for thousands of individual, personalized
rings is cost prohibitive.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a cost effective solution to the
problems discussed above. One aspect of the present invention is
directed toward reducing the amount of precious metal lost to
scrap. As opposed to personalizing jewelry by machining
personalized features directly into the precious metal, work is
performed, using CAD/CAM, onto a wax blank. The finished wax
replica is then used to produce a mold, into which precious metal
is poured to produce the desired product.
Using wax in this manner provides numerous advantages over direct
machining. First, wax is much softer than metal. Thus, the need for
expensive cutting tools is minimized and the tool life of the
cutting tools that are needed is greatly extended. Additionally,
smaller, more delicate tools can be used to achieve more intricate
artwork than possible using beefier, metal-cutting tools.
The increased level of detail allowed by working with wax
facilitates an increased offering of choices to jewelry customers.
For example, previous personalization options included
individualized alphanumeric features such as names or class years.
In previous systems, to support personalized rings having students'
names, an insert was machined for each name. Thus, when a student
named "Mike" ordered a ring with his name on it, the Mike-insert
was retrieved and used to cast the ring. Whenever an order included
a new name, a new insert would be created. In recent years, more
and more parents have adopted unique names for their children. This
has resulted in the need for the creation and storage of many more
name inserts. In the present invention, by using wax, more
precisely defined tapered cutting tools and TrueType typography
technology (available from AGFA-Monotype), students can choose to
have their name (whether the common or uncommon) engraved in any of
a multitude of digital fonts. The present invention also provides a
higher level of definition, which allows more alphanumeric
characters to be engraved on a ring than was previously
available.
Another advantage of wax is that it is very inexpensive. Using wax
not only eliminates much of the scrap metal produced by direct
machining of jewelry, if ordering errors or manufacturing errors
arise in the wax product, no precious metal is lost due to the
error.
Another aspect of the present invention is an automated
toolpath-generating program for use in milling the customized
ring's wax model. The computer system of the present invention
creates a geometric model, from which machining instructions are
automatically generated and temporarily stored for each text or
icon panel for the ring. These machining instructions support both
tapered and cylindrical cutter tools as defined by the APT-7
cutting tool geometry model. Once created, the machining
instructions are fed directly to a CNC milling machine that creates
the wax model. Thus, the CAD/CAM operator is eliminated from the
process, thereby greatly increasing production volume and
decreasing production costs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A through 1C illustrate a sample of customized rings.
FIG. 2 is a diagram of the workflow followed by the present
invention.
FIG. 3 is the system architecture of one embodiment of the present
invention.
FIGS. 4 through 7 are flowcharts diagramming the steps automated by
the present invention.
FIGS. 8 through 10 are flowcharts illustrating the steps involved
in building the 21/2-dimensional toolpath for some of the various
available machining strategies.
FIGS. 11 and 12 are flowcharts diagramming the steps involved in
converting the curves to 21/2-dimensional toolpath for three of the
available machining strategies.
FIG. 13 illustrates mapping a region between boundary curves.
FIG. 14 illustrates scaling a text item to the proper size.
FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate Voronoi diagrams for full and light
skeleton patterns.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, a collection of personalized
rings are shown. These rings each have one or more panels 105,
which are regions on the ring that can each be personalized by the
student purchaser. Each panel 105 can include text 110, a design
115, or both.
FIG. 2 is a workflow diagram illustrating the use of one embodiment
of the present invention. As shown in the figure, orders are
captured by various channels. For example, student consumers may
fill out an on-line electronic order form 205.2 that is submitted
to a web server 210 for storage in a database 220. Or, as has been
traditionally done, students and their parents may fill out
paper-based order forms 205.1 that are turned into a sales
representative. Each sales rep may forward a set of order forms to
the manufacturer's data entry department, where a group of data
entry clerks enter the orders into a computer repository database
220. There are other order channels available, such as by using an
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system with a telephone.
A workstation 215 is managed by a production operator. From this
workstation 215, a computer software application can retrieve data
for one of the pending orders. The order for a class ring includes
all of the personalization to be applied to the ring. For example,
the order specifies which type of ring to use, where to engrave the
student's name, what font to use, where to place school and year
information, where to apply icons representative of the student's
interests, etc. The software application applies all of the
personalization elements to a 3D virtual model of the ring. Then it
translates the model into a series of instructions describing a
path that a milling machine's cutting tool follows while machining
a ring. This set of instructions are commonly known as the
"toolpath". The toolpath is downloaded to a milling machine 225 and
a wax blank of the ring is engraved to the specifications ordered
by the student. The resulting wax model is then grouped with other
wax models and the set of rings are cast and finished 230,
resulting in the customized ring 235.
FIG. 3 shows they system architecture of one embodiment of the
present invention's personalization system 305. A personalization
client 310 is a computer program that provides the production
operator with a graphical user interface. The personalization
client 310 makes requests of a personalization server 315, which in
turn performs all of the complex mathematics to generate the
toolpath for a milling machine that will result in a ring as
ordered by a student. To do so, data may be retrieved from various
databases, such as an order database 220.1 and a configuration
database 220.2. The personalization client 310 can also provide
such functionality as: reading barcodes that represent order IDs,
displaying order information, managing queues of orders, and
communicating post-processed toolpath to the mills.
A toolpath viewer 325 can be used to provide a preview
visualization to the production operator of what will result when
the toolpath is applied to the wax blank. In one embodiment,
WNCPlot3D viewer software (sold by Intercim) is used as the
toolpath viewer 325. The viewer 325 is used mostly in
troubleshooting and setup situations.
Once the personalization client 310 and personalization server 315
assemble the generic toolpath (preferably an "ACL" (i.e.,
Intercim's "ASCII Cutter Location") format file based on the APT
(Automatically Programmed Tool) standard), a post-processor 320
(such as Intercim's GPOST post-processor) can be used to translate
it to the mill-specific toolpath, which is then downloaded to the
milling machine 225.
While the architecture shown in FIG. 2 differentiates the
personalization server 315 from the personalization client 310, in
some embodiments both reside on the production operator's
workstation 215. In other embodiments, the software functionality
can be implemented without using a client/server architecture.
FIGS. 4 through 7 provide additional details of one embodiment of
the processing performed by the personalization server 315 and the
personalization client 310. As shown in FIG. 4, the first primary
step is to get information for the order to be processed 405.
Again, this order information contains information about at least
one personalization item to be included in the finished ring. From
the order data, the first element to be personalized is processed:
the basic geometry for the element is generated 410 and the
toolpath is created for the given panel 415 and projected onto the
three dimensional surface of the geometric model. The steps of
generating geometry and creating toolpath are repeated for each of
the remaining personalization elements 420. Once the geometric
model shows all of the personalization desired by the student, the
toolpath (set of machining instructions) is generated that will
create a ring to match the geometric model 430 and 440. Through
this process flow, the present invention provides a high level of
personalization flexibility, such as the ability to project text
and icons onto arbitrary product surfaces.
FIG. 5 shows more detail on how the geometric model is created
(step 410). The model for each type of ring includes one or more
panels, which are the personalization regions for the ring. Thus,
each of the panels is retrieved from a repository 505 and then they
are assembled together to form the proper geometric model 510.
Assembling the text geometry is preceded by retrieving the text
requested by the customer as well as a design ID 405. Such a design
ID specifies the product being personalized. For example, it
specifies which configuration parameters to use (i.e., boundary
curves, product surfaces, fonts, and the like). The order data
includes an indicator for the desired font to use in personalizing
the text. As shown in FIG. 6. this is retrieved 610 and then the
operating system is queried for the appropriate font geometry 615.
In a preferred embodiment, TrueType brand typographic software is
used by the operating system to present the font geometry to the
application. In one embodiment, source code from the Microsoft
Glyph program can be used to acquire TrueType font geometry from
the operating system.
Based on the font geometry, a set of splines are created 620. To
construct the splines from the native font geometry, data from the
TrueType font information returned by the operating system is used
to construct curves in spline format. The text is then mapped
between upper and lower boundary curves which define the panel
shape in 2 dimensions. This is accomplished with the font geometry
information. The first step is to tessellate all of the splines to
generate a polyline set for each character of the text 625. The
text characters are mapped into a 2D rectangular domain using the
kerning information provided with the TrueType font 630. Because
kerned type is often more pleasant looking than fixed-spaced type,
each of the polyline sets are spaced based on kerning data supplied
with the font geometry. The spacing is adjusted to meet the minimum
spacing requirements associated with the given panel 635. Once this
modification of the text is finished, the polyline sets are mapped
between the boundary curves 640 so that the characters or icon
curves follow the shape of the two boundaries. To do this, a ruled
surface is defined between the two curves. Such a process is
discussed in "The NURBS Book" by Les Piegl and Wayne Tiller (pages
337-339) and is illustrated in FIG. 13. In that figure, the ruled
surface 1305 is defined between an upper boundary curve 1310 and a
lower boundary curve 1315.
The coordinates of the text or icon curves are scaled to fit into
the domain of the newly created ruled surface, and their scaled
coordinate values are interpolated using the definition of the
ruled surface. FIG. 14 shows a letter "T" 1405 scaled to fit in a
domain 1410. The parameterization of the boundary curves will
determine the type of mapping. Two basic maps are used in one
embodiment: "parallel to ends" and "perpendicular to base." Using a
"parallel to ends" technique, the vertical legs of each text
character are defined by an interpolation of the slopes of the left
and right edges of the boundary shape. Using a "perpendicular to
base" technique, the vertical legs of the characters are defined as
being perpendicular to the base curve of the boundary shape.
In some embodiments, configuration parameters are retrieved from a
repository. The configuration parameters vary for each ring design.
Thus, for each ring, the repository may store such data as the font
name, character spacing, character thickness, character type (such
as raised, incised, etc.), boundary curves, cutter type, and
machining pattern.
FIG. 7 details how to build the toolpath 415. First, a set of
machining patterns and information for the associated cutting tools
are retrieved 705. There are several machining patterns (a.k.a.
strategies) available for use by the invention. In one embodiment,
the following patterns can be used: (a) a raster pattern, wherein
Voronoi diagram techniques are used to generate 2D offsets defined
by text geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; (b) a
profile pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram techniques are used to
generate 2D offsets defined by text geometry, cutting tool shape,
and cutting depth; (c) a skeleton pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram
techniques are used to generate medial axis transforms defined by
text geometry, cutting tool shape, and cutting depth; (d) a light
skeleton pattern, wherein Voronoi diagram techniques are used to
generate medial axis transforms defined by text geometry, cutting
tool shape, and cutting depth; (e) a 2D curve machining with
surface projection pattern; and (f) a 3D curve machining pattern.
Other machining patterns can be implemented in various embodiments
of the invention.
With respect to the light skeleton pattern, it may be generated by
constructing the Voronoi diagram of the set of input curves and
extracting a subset of the Voronoi diagram that is sometimes
referred to as a symmetric axis transform. A z-depth is assigned to
each point of the subset of the Voronoi diagram, based on the
distance from the point to the two curves associated to the point
and the shape of the cutting tool. By combining this light skeleton
pattern with the profile pattern, the result is the skeleton
pattern. For the 2D curve pattern, the invention projects the
curves vertically onto a surface. FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate the
construction of the Voronoi diagram to construct the light skeleton
pattern. As shown in the figures, within the pattern there is a
geometry that needs to be preserved 1505. Within this preserved
area, the maximum distance from the curves to the tool at a given
depth is shown 1510. In connection with these, the Voronoi diagram
1515 and the light skeleton pattern 1605 are determined. In one
preferred embodiment, the VRONI software library provided by SUNY
at Stony Brook (Dr. Martin Held) is used to compute the Voronoi
diagrams used by the various machining patterns.
In one embodiment, the geometry being machined is approximated by
21/2-dimensional geometry. That is, it is assumed that the objects
are two dimensional with a nearly constant z-height. This
assumption is valid for many of the ring manufacturing designs.
Thus (referring back to FIG. 7), once the machining patterns are
retrieved 705, the 21/2-dimensional toolpath is generated by
retrieving the type of pattern specified. If the pattern requested
is "profile" 706, the 21/2-dimensional toolpath for the profile
pattern is generated 710. If the pattern requested is "raster" 707,
the 21/2-dimensional toolpath for the raster pattern is generated
715. Otherwise, a full or light skeleton toolpath is generated 720.
The toolpath generated for the personalization element is (in one
embodiment) either a simultaneous 4-axis toolpath or a positional
4-axis toolpath. In the simultaneous version, the rotational axis
is moving from one tool location to another continuously while in
the positional version, the tool will remain at a constant
rotational axis position, changing only from one panel to the
other.
FIGS. 8 through 10 illustrate flowcharts of how to build the
21/2-dimensional toolpath is referenced in steps 706 through 720 by
one embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 8, this process is shown
when using a profile machining pattern. FIG. 9 shows the steps for
a raster machining pattern. FIG. 10 shows the steps for a skeleton
machining pattern.
Referring now to FIG. 8, when using a profile machining pattern,
the effective radius of the cutting tool for a cut having a given
depth is first calculated 805. Then the two dimensional offset of
the text or icon for that effective cutting tool radius is
calculated 810. This is followed by calculating the two dimensional
offset of the text or icon for the given depth of cut 815. Finally,
the two dimensional curves are converted to 21/2-dimensional
toolpath 820. (For further detail of this step, refer to FIG.
12.)
As shown in FIG. 9, when using a raster machining pattern, the
first step is to calculate the profile toolpath 905. Then, for a
given step-over distance and a given bounding box for the text or
icon, the present invention generates parallel curves at step-over
distance from each other 910. This process is followed by
constraining the parallel two dimensional curves to the regions
defined by the profile curves 915. Finally, the constrained two
dimensional curves are converted to 21/2-dimensional toolpath 920.
(For further detail of this step, refer to FIG. 12.)
As discussed above, the light skeleton and full skeleton patterns
are related. Referring to FIG. 10, when using one of the skeleton
machining patterns, the first step is to calculate the
21/2-dimensional profile toolpath 1005. Then, the 2D Voronoi
diagram is calculated 1010. The present invention then removes
portions of the Voronoi diagram that are contained inside the
profile regions 1015. Then the 2 dimensional curves of the subset
of the Voronoi curves are converted to 21/2-dimensional toolpath
1020. (For further detail of this step, refer to FIG. 11.) If the
system is using the light skeleton pattern, then the toolpath is
finished 1025. Otherwise, if the system is using the full skeleton
pattern, then the 21/2-dimensional profile toolpath is appended in
order to generate the full skeleton toolpath 1030.
Now referring back to FIG. 7, the step of generating the
21/2-dimensional toolpath has been detailed above. At the next step
of the process shown in FIG. 7, the toolpath is projected onto the
surface of the ring 725. This generates the corresponding
three-dimensional toolpath. Once the projection is accomplished,
the toolpath is rotated by a specified angle to achieve the final
toolpath for that particular personalization panel 730.
In the same fashion, all of the remaining personalization panels
are processed 740, and the resulting toolpath is concatenated for
each iteration 735. In one embodiment of the invention, up to ten
personalization items can be handled, meaning that up to ten
separate toolpaths are generated and concatenated into a single,
master toolpath file. After all panels are processed, the toolpath
is converted to the generic ACL format 430. In one embodiment, this
conversion is accomplished by a post-processor, such as the
Intercim GPOST software product 440.
FIGS. 11 and 12 show details of how to convert the curves to
21/2-dimensional toolpath for the skeleton, profile, and raster
machining patterns. In FIG. 11, for the skeleton strategy pattern,
the present invention gets a point in the remaining set of edges
from the Voronoi diagram 1120. The distance from that point to the
text or icon curves is determined 1125. Next, the depth that
corresponds to an effective radius equal to the calculated distance
is assigned as a z-value. The point with z-value is added to the
toolpath 1130. This repeats for additional points 1135.
In FIG. 12, for profile and raster strategy patterns, the present
invention first gets a point in the remaining set of edges in the
Voronoi diagram 1220. Then the depth of cut is assigned as a
z-value and the point is added with that z-value to the toolpath
1230. This repeats for additional points 1235.
The foregoing description addresses embodiments encompassing the
principles of the present invention. The embodiments may be
changed, modified and/or implemented using various types of
arrangements. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize
various modifications and changes that may be made to the invention
without strictly following the exemplary embodiments and
applications illustrated and described herein, and without
departing from the scope of the invention, which is set forth in
the following claims.
* * * * *
References