Adhesive matter remaining at the end of a cuboid metal material is reliably removed in a relatively short time while suppressing the decrease in yield rate of the metal material. Distances of the upper surface and the lower surface of a cuboid metal material from a reference position are measured using a distance measurement device in the longitudinal direction of the slab including the longitudinal end of the slab. On the basis of the measurement results, the state of remaining of adhesive matter remaining on the upper and lower surfaces of the longitudinal end of the slab is comprehended. On the basis of the state of remaining of adhesive matter, the amount and position of cutting by a cutting tool is determined. Corner removing cutting is performed on the upper and lower surfaces of the longitudinal end of the slab using the cutting tool in accordance with the determined amount and position of cutting.

A welding or cutting tool for welding or cutting electrically conductive workpieces includes a nozzle arranged on a tool tip for discharging a welding or cutting beam and a nozzle cap which at least partly surrounds the nozzle, is open towards the tool tip, and has an electrode that forms a capacitance with the respective workpiece and an insulating element that electrically insulates the electrode from the other components of the tool. The electrode consists of a first electrically conductive ceramic material and is formed integrally with the insulating element, which consists of a second electrically insulating ceramic material.

A slab scarfing apparatus comprises: an upper nozzle unit having an upper surface nozzle for scarfing an edge portion of the upper surface of a slab and having a first side nozzle scarfing an upper edge portion of the side surface of the slab and moving together with the upper surface nozzle; a lower nozzle unit having a lower nozzle for scarfing an edge portion of the lower surface of the slab and having a second side nozzle scarfing a lower edge portion of the side surface of the slab and moving together with the lower nozzle; and a moving apparatus for moving the upper nozzle unit and the lower nozzle unit to allow the upper nozzle unit and the lower nozzle unit to be adjacent to or to be spaced apart from an edge portion of the slab. A method of controlling the apparatus is provided.

A method of cutting openings in flat, concave, convex, and converging surfaces, in which the geometry of the outline of the element to be welded into the workpiece is measured, while subsequently an electronic control unit of the device uses the measurement data to plot the path of the cutting tool, and the IMCM device is placed onto the work surface, where the geometry of the work surface is measured using a scanning system, cutting parameters are automatically entered into the control unit based on the measurement results, the surface is heated and cut along the selected path, the cut-out part of the surface is removed, and the edges of the cut-out opening are grinded.

An automated oxy-fuel thermal processing system including an oxy-fuel torch, an automated machine tool operatively coupled to the torch for moving the torch relative to a work piece, and a circuit including a voltage source or a current electrically connected to the torch and configured to be electrically connected to the work piece. The automated oxy-fuel thermal processing system may further include a processor that is operatively connected to the torch, the automated machine tool, the circuit, and the voltage source or current source, wherein the processor is configured to control the operation of the torch, the automated machine tool and the voltage source or current source, and to monitor a current or voltage in the circuit in a predefined manner.

An automated oxy-fuel thermal processing system including an oxy-fuel torch, an automated machine tool operatively coupled to the torch for moving the torch relative to a work piece, and a circuit including a voltage source or a current electrically connected to the torch and configured to be electrically connected to the work piece. The automated oxy-fuel thermal processing system may further include a processor that is operatively connected to the torch, the automated machine tool, the circuit, and the voltage source or current source, wherein the processor is configured to control the operation of the torch, the automated machine tool and the voltage source or current source, and to monitor a current or voltage in the circuit in a predefined manner.

The present invention discloses a gantry cutting machine for pipe and flat plate, including a cutting assembly, a plate cutting mechanism, a pipe cutting mechanism and a crossbeam. The crossbeam is provided with a transverse driving unit. The cutting assembly is connected to the crossbeam. A cutting assembly mounting base is provided with a lifting-driving unit. The transverse driving unit includes a first gear, a first rack, a first motor and a first rail. The present invention provides a gantry cutting machine for pipe and flat plate to meet the demands in the field of numerically controlled cutting and machining of pipe products, which has a simple operation and is easy to use, and the clamping is flexible, so that the processing cost of pipe products can be reduced, and cutting and machining range of the numerically controlled cutting machine can be broadened.

A bevel head assembly is shown capable of fine motor control of a cutting tool (for instance, a laser or plasma cutter) in three simultaneous dimensions of movement. A rack-and-pinion system moves the bevel head assembly and cutter up and down in the Z-axis while a rotational motor attached to the rack-and-pinion system moves the bevel head assembly in a first rotational (X) axis, and a linear actuator pivotally connected to the cutting tool is mounted to the rotational motor to move the bevel head assembly in a second (Y) rotational axis.

A system (40) for processing a workpiece includes a support surface (88) for supporting a workpiece (44). The system (40) includes a processing tool (92) movable with respect to a processing path. The system (40) includes a sensor carriage (408) movable along a scan axis and having a light source (476, 515, 550, 586) located to emit a light beam at an angle to the scan axis onto a target surface of a workpiece (44), and a camera (484, 522, 558, 594) configured to record location data of the light beam on a target surface of a workpiece (44) as the sensor carriage (408) moves along the scan axis. The system (40) includes a control system for generating a three-dimensional point representation of a workpiece surface from the light beam location data, to control movement of the processing tool (92) based on the three-dimensional point representation of a workpiece (44).

A welding or cutting tool for welding or cutting electrically conductive workpieces includes a nozzle arranged on a tool tip for discharging a welding or cutting beam and a nozzle cap which at least partly surrounds the nozzle, is open towards the tool tip, and has an electrode that forms a capacitance with the respective workpiece and an insulating element that electrically insulates the electrode from the other components of the tool. The electrode consists of a first electrically conductive ceramic material and is formed integrally with the insulating element, which consists of a second electrically insulating ceramic material.