| Surface Generation Ltd. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20100295229 | Tooling System With Array of Height Adjustable Elements - A tooling system ( | 11-25-2010 |
| 20090020936 | RECONFIGURABLE WORKPIECE SUPPORT - A tooling system comprises a plurality of elongate elements each having an upper surface, said elements being arranged in an array to present said upper surfaces for machining by cutting tool means; support means for supporting said elements, each said element being supported on said support means for axial movement between upper and lower positions relative to the other elements in the array thereby to enable adjustment of the vertical position of said element surface; and clamping means for clamping the array of elements in a closed position in which the elements contact one another for enabling the free ends of the elements to be machined to produce a desired surface contour. A method of tooling using such a tooling system comprises storing existing data representing the contour of the surface of each element including the z values of the surface at any given x,y coordinate point relative to a datum; storing new data representing a desired contour for the surface of each element position in the array including the z values of the surface at said any given x,y coordinate point relative to said datum; comparing said new data for a first, selected element position with the existing data for a first element in said selected element position; and adjusting the height of said first element to adjust said z values of said existing data at said any given x,y coordinate point to values at least equal to said z values; of said new data at said any given x,y coordinate point. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20080203640 | Tooling System - A tooling system comprises a plurality of elements arranged in an array, the elements of the array being movable between a closed position in which the elements contact one another and are secured in position, and an open position in which the elements of the array are spaced apart and are capable of vertical movement relative to one another, characterised in that the tooling system further comprises means for retaining the elements of the array in a plurality of different relative vertical alignments. A method of operating the tooling system is also described, which method of operating includes at least the steps of moving the elements of the array into a first vertical alignment, machining the free ends of the elements according to a predetermined pattern and moving the elements of the array into a second vertical alignment in which the machined ends of the elements produce a desired surface contour. | 08-28-2008 |
