A robotic sharpening system and method for rapidly and accurately sharpening or resharpening cutting tools is provided. The inventive system employs a robotic arm that grasps each cutting tool by its cutting blade instead of by its handle, thereby reducing flex during the sharpening process. This results in a more accurate and consistent sharpening by consistently providing an even bevel at the knife edge regardless of minor imperfections (i.e., a bend or warp) in the blade surface. In addition, it renders the system uninfluenced by the size or shape of the handle of the cutting tool.

A robotic sharpening system and method for rapidly and accurately sharpening or resharpening cutting tools is provided. The inventive system employs a robotic arm that grasps each cutting tool by its cutting blade instead of by its handle, thereby reducing flex during the sharpening process. This results in a more accurate and consistent sharpening by consistently providing an even bevel at the knife edge regardless of minor imperfections (i.e., a bend or warp) in the blade surface. In addition, it renders the system uninfluenced by the size or shape of the handle of the cutting tool.

A vehicular frameless interior rearview mirror assembly includes a mirror head and a mounting portion. The mirror head includes a mirror reflective element and a mirror casing. The mirror reflective element includes a glass substrate having a planar front side and a planar rear side. No portion of the mirror casing overlaps the planar front side of the glass substrate of the mirror reflective element. A camera is disposed within the mirror casing. With the mounting portion of the mirror assembly mounted at an in-cabin side of a windshield of a vehicle, the camera views a driver of the vehicle, and when the mirror head is moved by the driver of the vehicle to adjust the rearward view provided by the mirror reflective element to the driver, the camera moves in tandem with movement of the mirror head. The camera is part of a driver monitoring system of the vehicle.

Provided is a control device for a machine tool, the control device being capable of more appropriately and easily determining a swing condition. A control device 10 for a machine tool for swinging a work piece and a tool relatively to each other to perform machining, the control device 10 comprising a storage unit 15 which stores correspondence between a machining condition and a swing condition, the machining condition being at least one of specifications of the work piece, specifications of the tool, a machining method and a machining shape, a swing condition determination unit 16 which selects a swing condition to be used for the machining on the basis of the correspondence stored in the storage unit 15, and a swing command generation unit 18 which generates a swing command on the basis of the swing condition selected by the swing condition determination unit 16.

A method of machining a workpiece using a machine tool, the machine tool comprising a tool mount carrying a tool, a workpiece mount carrying a workpiece, a drive mechanism for moving at least one of the tool mount and the workpiece mount relative to the other, and a control arrangement for controlling the drive mechanism. The method comprises moving at least one of the tool mount and the workpiece mount with the drive mechanism under the control of the control arrangement so that the tool contacts a portion of the workpiece to commence a machining operation, and the tool then removes material from the portion of the workpiece until completion of the machining operation, the movement being such that the relative velocity between the tool and the workpiece decreases continuously during the majority of the time that the tool and the workpiece are in contact with each other during the machining operation.

A method of machining a workpiece using a machine tool, the machine tool comprising a tool mount carrying a tool, a workpiece mount carrying a workpiece, a drive mechanism for moving at least one of the tool mount and the workpiece mount relative to the other, and a control arrangement for controlling the drive mechanism. The method comprises moving at least one of the tool mount and the workpiece mount with the drive mechanism under the control of the control arrangement so that the tool contacts a portion of the workpiece to commence a machining operation, and the tool then removes material from the portion of the workpiece until completion of the machining operation, the movement being such that the relative velocity between the tool and the workpiece decreases continuously during the majority of the time that the tool and the workpiece are in contact with each other during the machining operation.

A blade sharpening system may include a sharpening tool for sharpening a workpiece. The system may also include a sharpening fixture having a mounting surface for mounting a workpiece to be sharpened by the sharpening tool. The mounting surface may be disposed on a sled that is movable along a sharpening path that passes under a sharpening implement that may be mounted to a movable arm of the sharpening tool when the arm is in an engaged position. The movement of the sled may be coupled to the movement of the arm such that moving the arm from a disengaged position to the engaged position initiates the sled to move in a first direction along the sharpening path and moving the arm from the engaged position to the disengaged position initiates the sled to move along the sharpening path in a second direction.

A blade sharpening system may include a sharpening tool for sharpening a workpiece. The system may also include a sharpening fixture having a mounting surface for mounting a workpiece to be sharpened by the sharpening tool. The mounting surface may be disposed on a sled that is movable along a sharpening path that passes under a sharpening implement that may be mounted to a movable arm of the sharpening tool when the arm is in an engaged position. The movement of the sled may be coupled to the movement of the arm such that moving the arm from a disengaged position to the engaged position initiates the sled to move in a first direction along the sharpening path and moving the arm from the engaged position to the disengaged position initiates the sled to move along the sharpening path in a second direction.

A disc changing system for a robotic defect repair system is presented. The system has a first abrasive disc and a second abrasive disc. The first and second abrasive discs are coupled to a liner. The system includes an abrasive disc placement device configured to automatically: remove the first abrasive disc from the liner, transport the first abrasive disc to a robotic tool of the robotic defect repair system, and place the first abrasive disc on a backup pad coupled to the robotic tool. The system also includes an abrasive disc remover configured to automatically remove the first abrasive disc after receiving a removal signal. The system also includes a controller configured to send an instruction to the disc placement device to remove, transport and place the first abrasive disc, instruct the robotic tool to conduct an abrasive operation. The controller is also configured to send the removal signal. The controller is a processor and the instructions are stored on a non-transitory com-puter-readable medium and executed by the processor.

A disc changing system for a robotic defect repair system is presented. The system has a first abrasive disc and a second abrasive disc. The first and second abrasive discs are coupled to a liner. The system includes an abrasive disc placement device configured to automatically: remove the first abrasive disc from the liner, transport the first abrasive disc to a robotic tool of the robotic defect repair system, and place the first abrasive disc on a backup pad coupled to the robotic tool. The system also includes an abrasive disc remover configured to automatically remove the first abrasive disc after receiving a removal signal. The system also includes a controller configured to send an instruction to the disc placement device to remove, transport and place the first abrasive disc, instruct the robotic tool to conduct an abrasive operation. The controller is also configured to send the removal signal. The controller is a processor and the instructions are stored on a non-transitory com-puter-readable medium and executed by the processor.