1. A disengageable mount assembly for a cutting head of a waterjet cutting system, comprising:
a retainer attachable to a mounting arm of a waterjet cutting system, the retaining having a seating aperture and a plurality of pin cavities disposed therein, each pin cavity having a pair of pockets disposed on opposite lateral sides thereof;
a plurality of pairs of conductive strike pads, each strike pad being disposed within one of the pockets;
a plurality of pairs of conductive balls, each conductive ball being disposed within one of the pockets, each ball being in contact with one of the strike pads;
a clamping collar coupleable to the cutting head and at least partially disposed within the seating aperture, the clamping collar having a plurality of conductive pins projecting outwardly therefrom, each conductive pin being disengageably disposed within one of the pin cavities and disengageably contacting the pair of conductive balls;
a seating force spring engageable with the mounting arm to urge the clamping collar into alignment with the retainer;
a tensioner coupleable with the cutting head and engageable with the seating force spring to at least partially compress the seating force spring; and
a sensing circuit attached to the retainer and having a plurality of sensing branches, each sensing branch operatively coupled to at least one of the strike pads and to at least one of the conductive balls.
2. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of pin cavities comprises three pin cavities and the plurality of conductive pins comprises three conductive pins.
3. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 1 wherein the seating force spring comprises a coil spring.
4. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 1 wherein the seating aperture is substantially alignable with a mounting aperture of the mounting arm.
5. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a shield member having a first end attachable to the cutting head and a second end engageable with a workpiece.
6. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the sensing circuit.
7. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 6 wherein the controller transmits a collision detection signal to a control gantry of the waterjet cutting system.
8. A disengageable mount assembly for a cutting head of a waterjet cutting system, comprising:
a first mount member coupleable to a controllably positionable portion of the waterjet cutting system;
a second mount member coupleable to the cutting head and disengageably coupled to the first mount member; and
a sensing circuit having a plurality of first conductive elements disposed on the first mount member and a plurality of second conductive elements disposed on the second mount member.
9. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 8 wherein the first mount member comprises a retainer having a seating aperture disposed therethrough and a plurality of pin cavities disposed therein, each pin cavity having a pair of rounded pockets disposed on opposite lateral sides thereof, and wherein the plurality of first conductive elements comprises a conductive strike pad disposed within each of the pockets and a conductive ball disposed within each of the pockets and in contact with the strike pad.
10. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 9 wherein the second mount member comprises a clamping collar at least partially disposed within the seating aperture, and wherein the plurality of second conductive elements comprises a plurality of conductive pins projecting outwardly from the clamping collar, each conductive pin being disengageably disposed within one of the pin cavities and disengageably contacting a pair of conductive balls.
11. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 8, further comprising a biasing device that biases the second mount member into contact with the first mount member.
12. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 11 wherein the biasing device comprises a coil spring.
13. The disengageable mount assembly according to claim 8, further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the sensing circuit and monitoring a collision-sensing signal.
14. A waterjet cutting system for cutting a workpiece, comprising:
a cutting head having a high pressure fluid inlet coupleable to a source of high-pressure fluid;
a first mount member coupleable to a controllably positionable portion of the cutting system;
a second mount member coupled to the cutting head and disengageably coupled to the first mount member; and
a sensing circuit having a plurality of first conductive elements disposed on the first mount member and a plurality of second conductive elements disposed on the second mount member.
15. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 14 wherein the first mount member comprises a retainer having a seating aperture disposed therethrough and a plurality of pin cavities disposed therein, each pin cavity having a pair of rounded pockets disposed on opposite lateral sides thereof, and wherein the plurality of first conductive elements comprises a conductive strike pad disposed within each of the pockets and a conductive ball disposed within each of the pockets and in contact with the strike pad.
16. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 15 wherein the second mount member comprises a clamping collar at least partially disposed within the seating aperture, and wherein the plurality of second conductive elements comprises a plurality of conductive pins projecting outwardly from the clamping collar, each conductive pin being disengageably disposed within one of the pin cavities and disengageably contacting a pair of conductive balls.
17. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 14, further comprising a biasing device engageable with the cutting head to bias the second mount member into contact with the first mount member.
18. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 14, further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the sensing circuit and monitoring a collision-sensing signal.
19. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 14, further comprising a control gantry coupled to the mounting surface and having a drive assembly that controllably positions the cutting head throughout an x-y plane that is aligned to be substantially parallel to the surface of the workpiece.
20. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 14, further comprising a source of high-pressure fluid.
21. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 14, further comprising:
a linear rail alignable with an axis that extends outwardly with respect to the workpiece;
a slide member coupled to the mounting surface and slideably coupled to the linear rail;
at least one actuator aligned with the linear rail and having a first end coupled to the slide member and a second end fixed with respect to the linear rail;
a position sensor coupled to the slide member; and
a controller operatively coupled to the position sensor and to the actuator, the controller receiving a position signal from the position sensor and transmitting a control signal to the actuator.
22. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 21 wherein the actuator comprises a pneumatic cylinder having an air valve coupleable to a source of high-pressure air, the controller being operatively coupled to the air valve.
23. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 22, further comprising a source of high-pressure air coupled to the air valve.
24. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 21, further comprising a contact member having a first end attached to the cutting head and a second end engageable with a surface of the workpiece.
25. The waterjet cutting system according to claim 21 wherein the actuator comprises a first pneumatic cylinder having a first air valve coupleable to a source of high-pressure air, further comprising a second pneumatic cylinder having a second air valve coupleable to the source of high-pressure air, the controller being operatively coupled to the second air valve and sending a second control signal to control the second air valve.
26. An assembly for mounting a cutting head on a waterjet cutting system and for generating a signal when the cutting head collides with an object, the assembly comprising:
a retainer coupleable to a mounting arm of the waterjet cutting system, the retainer having a first seating surface;
a clamping collar coupleable to the cutting head, the clamping collar having a second seating surface, the clamping collar being rotatable about at least one radial axis of the clamping collar with respect to the retainer, the second seating surface being in contact with the first seating surface when the clamping collar is in an operative position;
a first contact member coupled to the clamping collar to move with the clamping collar;
a second contact member positioned adjacent the first contact member and spaced therefrom by a predetermined distance such that, when the clamping collar is in the operative position there is a gap between the first and second contact members, and when the clamping collar is out of the operative position by more than a predetermined angle the first contact member is in contact with the second contact member, and
a sensing circuit coupleable to the first and second contact members to generate a signal when the first contact member is in contact with the second contact member.
27. The assembly of claim 26 wherein the retainer is coupleable to a first side of the mounting arm with the first seating surface facing away from the mounting arm, and further comprising a biasing member engageable with a second side of the mounting arm opposite the first side to urge the clamping collar against the retainer and into the operative position.
28. The assembly of claim 26, further comprising a biasing member and a tensioning member, the retainer being coupleable to a first side of the mounting arm with the first seating surface facing away from the mounting arm, the biasing member being engageable with a second side of the mounting arm opposite the first side to generate a restoring force to urge the clamping collar against the retainer and into the operative position, and the tensioning member being adjustably engageable with the biasing member to increase andor decrease the restoring force.
29. The assembly of claim 26, further comprising a biasing member engageable with the assembly to urge the clamping collar against the retainer and into the operative position.
30. The assembly of claim 26 wherein the second contact member has an annular portion encircling at least a portion of the first contact member such that rotation of the clamping collar about the radial axis of the clamping collar will result in the first contact member coming into contact with the second contact member.
31. The assembly of claim 26 wherein the first and second contact members are annular and oriented in substantially parallel planes when the clamping collar is in the operative position, the second contact member being positioned relative to the first contact member such that rotation of the clamping collar about the radial axis of the clamping collar will result in the first contact coming into contact with the second contact.
32. The assembly of claim 26, further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the sensing circuit.
33. The assembly of claim 26, further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the sensing circuit, the controller being configured to transmit the signal to a control gantry of the waterjet cutting system.
34. The assembly of claim 26, further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the sensing circuit, the controller being configured to transmit the signal to a high pressure fluid control of the waterjet cutting system.
35. An assembly for mounting a cutting head on a waterjet cutting system and for generating a signal when the cutting head collides with an object, the assembly comprising:
a first mount member fixedly coupleable to a controllably positionable portion of the waterjet cutting system;
a second mount member fixedly coupleable to the cutting head and movably positioned against the first mount member to move with respect to the first mount member between an operative position and a collision position; and
a sensing circuit having a first conductive element fixedly coupled to the second mount member to move with the second mount member, and a second conductive element positioned to be a predetermined distance from the first conductive element when the second mount member is in the operative position and to be in contact with the first conductive element when the second mount member is in the collision position.
36. The assembly of claim 35, further comprising a biasing member that urges the second mount member against the first mount member and into the operative position.
37. The assembly of claim 35 wherein the second conductive element has an annular portion encircling at least a portion of the first conductive element such that movement of the second mount member from the operative position to the collision position will result in the first conductive element coming into contact with the second conductive element.
38. The assembly of claim 35 wherein the second mount member is rotatably coupled to the first mount member and the second conductive element has an annular portion encircling at least a portion of the first conductive element such that rotation of the second mount member from the operative position to the collision position will result in the first conductive element coming into contact with the second conductive element.
39. The assembly of claim 35 wherein the second mount member is rotatably coupled to the first mount member and the first and second conductive elements are annular and are substantially parallel when the second mount member is in the operative position, the second conductive element being positioned relative to the first conductive element such that rotation of the second mount member from the operative position to the collision position will result in the first conductive element coming into contact with the second conductive element.
40. The assembly of claim 35 further comprising a cover positionable over the first and second conductive elements to prevent water from contacting the first and second conductive elements.
41. The assembly of claim 35 further comprising a first cover positionable ona first side of the first and second conductive elements and a second cover positionable on an opposing second side of the first and second conductive elements to prevent water from contacting the first and second conductive elements.
42. A waterjet cutting system for cutting a workpiece, comprising:
a cutting head having a high pressure fluid inlet configured to communicate with a source of high-pressure fluid, the cutting head being movably coupled to a controllably positionable portion of the cutting system to move with respect thereto between an operative position and a collision position;
a first conductive element coupled to the cutting head such that movement of the cutting head with respect to the controllably positionable portion of the cutting system results in movement of the first conductive element with respect to the controllably positionable portion of the cutting system;
a second conductive element coupled to the cutting system to move only with the controllably positionable portion of the cutting system, the second conductive element being spaced apart from the first conductive element when the cutting head is in the operative position, and being in contact with the first conductive element when the cutting head is in the collision position; and
a sensing circuit coupleable to the first and second conductive elements to generate a signal when the cutting head is in the collision position.
43. The system of claim 42 wherein the cutting head is pivotally coupled to the controllably positionable portion of the cutting system.
44. The system of claim 42 wherein the controllably positionable portion of the cutting system is a mounting arm.
45. The system of claim 42 wherein the controllably positionable portion of the cutting system is a mounting arm and the cutting head is pivotally coupled to the mounting arm.
46. The system of claim 42, further comprising a retainer and a clamping collar and wherein the controllably positionable portion of the cutting system is a mounting arm, the retainer being coupled to the mounting arm and having a first seating surface, the clamping collar being coupled to the cutting head and having a second seating surface, the second seating surface being in stable contact with the first seating surface when the cutting head is in the operative position, and the clamping collar being rotatable about at least one of its radial axes with respect to the retainer to allow the cutting head to move between the operative position and the collision position.
47. The system of claim 42 wherein the second conductive element has an annular portion encircling at least a portion of the first conductive element such that movement of the second mount member from the operative position to the collision position will result in the first conductive element coming into contact with the second conductive element.
48. The system of claim 42 wherein the second mount member is rotatably coupled to the first mount member and the second conductive element has an annular portion encircling at least a portion of the first conductive element such that rotation of the second mount member from the operative position to the collision position will result in the first conductive element coming into contact with the second conductive element.
49. The system of claim 42 wherein the second mount member is rotatably coupled to the first mount member and the first and second conductive elements are annular and are substantially parallel when the second mount member is in the operative position, the second conductive element being positioned relative to the first conductive element such that rotation of the second mount member from the operative position to the collision position will result in the first conductive element coming into contact with the second conductive element.
50. The system of claim 42 further comprising a cover positionable over the first and second conductive elements to prevent water from contacting the first and second conductive elements.
51. The system of claim 42 further comprising a first cover positionable on a first side of the first and second conductive elements and a second cover positionable on an opposing second side of the first and second conductive elements to prevent water from contacting the first and second conductive elements.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A power converter, comprising:
a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller that produces a PWM signal in correspondence to a feedback input, the PWM signal having a fundamental frequency;
a low pass filter, having a plurality of poles, connected to the PWM controller, the low pass filter having a corner frequency that is above at least ten times the fundamental frequency of the PWM signal, the low pass filter producing a filtered PWM signal having substantially 99 percent of harmonic content, by power, in the filtered signal with higher frequency harmonic components eliminated; and
a switching transistor having a control terminal coupled to the low pass filter to receive the filtered PWM signal having the harmonic content, the switching transistor further coupled in series with a primary winding of a transformer responsive to the filtered PWM signal; and
wherein the number of poles for the plurality of poles of the low pass filter being based on:
sufficient attenuation needed to eliminate interference of unwanted harmonics;
sufficient attenuation needed eliminate interference across the primary winding; and
without the use of a transient suppression network.
2. The power converter of claim 1, wherein the low pass filter has at least two poles.
3. The power converter of claim 1, wherein harmonic content of the PWM signal above a tenth harmonic of the fundamental frequency of the PWM signal is outside a passband of the low pass filter.
4. The power converter of claim 1, wherein the low pass filter has a roll off of at least 20 dB per decade.
5. The power convertor of claim 1, wherein the low pass filter filters harmonic content of the PWM signal based on the corner frequency of the low pass filter to produce the filtered PWM signal.
6. The power converter of claim 1, wherein the plurality of poles of the low pass filter comprises at least five poles.
7. The power converter of claim 1, wherein no RF shielding is required in minimizing emissions.
8. The power converter of claim 1, wherein the power converter maintains efficiency while eliminating harmonic interference at radio receiver frequencies.
9. A pulse width modulation (PWM) control circuit, comprising:
a PWM controller that generates a PWM signal having a fundamental frequency and having a duty cycle that is varied in correspondence with an input signal provided to the PWM controller;
a low pass filter, having a plurality of poles, coupled to the PWM controller, the low pass filter having a corner frequency that is above at least ten times the fundamental frequency of the PWM signal, wherein the low pass filter filters the PWM signal based on the corner frequency to produce a filtered PWM signal, the low pass filter producing a filtered PWM signal having substantially 99 percent of harmonic content, by power, in the filtered signal with higher frequency harmonic components minimized;
a switch transistor having a control terminal coupled to the low pass filter to receive the filtered PWM signal, and the switch transistor further controls current through an inductive conversion winding responsive to the filtered PWM signal; and
wherein the number of poles of the plurality of poles of the low pass filter are based on:
sufficient attenuation needed to minimize interference of higher frequency harmonics in the filtered signal;
sufficient attenuation needed minimize interference across the primary winding;
and
without the use of a transient suppression network.
10. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein the inductive conversion winding is a primary winding of a conversion transformer and the switch transistor is a field effect transistor or a bipolar transistor.
11. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein the low pass filter has at least three poles.
12. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein harmonic content of the PWM signal above a tenth harmonic of the fundamental frequency of the PWM signal is outside a passband of the low pass filter.
13. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein the low pass filter has a roll off of at least 20 dB per decade.
14. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein the low pass filter is a fourth order Chebyshev filter having a corner frequency at a frequency above a tenth harmonic frequency of the PWM signal such that harmonic content of the PWM signal above the tenth harmonic frequency is outside a passband of the filter.
15. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein the low pass filter filters harmonic content of the PWM signal based on the corner frequency of the low pass filter to produce the filtered PWM signal.
16. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein the plurality of poles of the low pass filter comprises at least five poles.
17. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein no RF shielding is required in minimizing emissions.
18. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein the PWM control circuit maintains efficiency while eliminating harmonic interference at radio receiver frequencies.
19. The PWM control circuit of claim 9, wherein the attenuation of higher frequency harmonics of the fundamental frequency substantially reduces radiated and conducted emissions.
20. A battery charger, comprising:
a housing having a charging pocket configured to accept a portable radio device with an attached battery;
a charge regulator that provides a regulated charging current or voltage to the attached battery from a DC source;
a switched mode power converter that converts an input AC to the DC source used by the charge regulator, the switched mode power converter having a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller, a conversion inductance, a switch transistor, and a low pass filter coupled between the PWM controller and the switch transistor, wherein the low pass filter has a plurality of poles and a corner frequency that is above at least a ten times the fundamental frequency of a PWM signal produced by the PWM controller, and the low pass filter filters the PWM signal based on the corner frequency to produce a filtered PWM signal having substantially 99 percent of harmonic content, by power, in the filtered signal with higher frequency harmonic components eliminated; wherein the switch transistor switches current through the conversion inductance responsive to the filtered PWM signal produced by the low pass filter; and
wherein the number of poles for the plurality of poles of the low pass filter being based on:
sufficient attenuation needed to eliminate interference of higher frequency harmonics in the filtered signal;
sufficient attenuation needed eliminate interference across the primary winding;
and
without the use of a transient suppression network.
21. The battery charger of claim 20, wherein the conversion inductance is a primary winding of a conversion transformer and the switch transistor is a bipolar junction transistor.
22. The battery charger of claim 20, wherein harmonic content of the PWM signal above a tenth harmonic of the fundamental frequency of the PWM signal is outside a passband of the low pass filter.
23. The battery charger of claim 20, wherein the low pass filter has a roll off of at least 10 dB per decade.
24. The battery charger of claim 20, wherein the low pass filter is a fourth order Chebyshev filter having a corner frequency at a frequency above a tenth harmonic frequency of the PWM signal such that harmonic content of the PWM signal above the tenth harmonic frequency is outside a passband of the filter.
25. The battery charger of claim 20, wherein the low pass filter filters harmonic content of the PWM signal based on the corner frequency of the low pass filter to produce the filtered PWM signal.
26. The battery charger of claim 20, wherein the plurality of poles of the low pass filter comprises at least five poles.
27. The battery charger of claim 20, wherein no RF shielding is required in minimizing emissions.
28. The battery charger of claim 20, wherein the switched mode power converter maintains efficiency while eliminating harmonic interference at radio receiver frequencies.
29. A power converter, comprising:
a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller that produces a PWM signal in correspondence to a feedback input, the PWM signal having a fundamental frequency;
a low pass filter connected to the PWM controller, the low pass filter having a corner frequency above the fundamental frequency of the PWM signal so as to produce a filtered PWM signal having substantially 99 percent of harmonic content, by power, in the filtered signal with higher frequency harmonic components eliminated, and the low pass filter having a plurality of poles, the plurality of poles attenuating interference of unwanted harmonics in the filtered signal; and
a switching transistor having a control terminal coupled to the low pass filter to receive the filtered PWM signal having the harmonic content, the switching transistor further coupled in series with a primary winding of a transformer responsive to the filtered PWM signal; and
the plurality of poles of the low pass filter further providing attenuation to eliminate interference across the primary winding without the use of a transient suppression network.