A translatable, ultra-high pressure liquid jet system includes a translatable frame configured to maintain mechanical contact with a rail. The liquid jet system includes a liquid jet processing head affixed to the frame and configured to maintain a distance from the rail and provide a liquid jet that contacts the rail. The liquid jet system also includes an ultra-high pressure liquid pump in fluid communication with the liquid jet processing head. The ultra-high pressure liquid pump is configured to supply pressurized liquid to the liquid jet processing head.

A method for removing dental material is disclosed. The method may include suspending, by a hydrated polymeric material, a quantity of abrasive media. The hydrated polymeric material and suspended abrasive media may then be pressurized. Accordingly, an abrasive stream may be formed by expelling, under pressure, the hydrated polymeric material and suspended abrasive media from a nozzle. The abrasive stream may be precisely applied to a tooth to abrade the enamel or dentin thereof as a drilling instrumentality.

A facility for automated modelling of the cutting process for a particular material to be cut by a beam cutting tool, such as a waterjet cutting system, from empirical data to predict aspects of the waterjet's effect on the workpiece across a range of material thicknesses, across a range of cutting geometries, and across a range of cutting quality levels, all of which may be broader than, and independent of the actual requirements for a target workpiece, is described.

In some aspects, material processing head can include a body; an antenna disposed within the body; a first tag, associated with a first consumable component, disposed within a flux communication zone of the body at a first distance from the antenna, the first tag having a first resonant frequency; and a second tag, associated with a second consumable component, disposed within the flux communication zone of the body at a second distance from the antenna, the second tag having a second resonant frequency that is different than the first resonant frequency, where the first and second resonant frequencies are tuned based upon at least one of: i) a difference between the first distance and the second distance; or ii) a characteristic (e.g., shape) of the flux communication zone in which the first tag and/or the second tag is disposed.

A waterjet system is provided, including a pump configured to pump fluid, an electric motor configured to drive the pump, a hopper configured to store abrasive, and a mixing chamber configured to mix abrasive from the hopper and the fluid from the pump to produce a slurry. A cutting bed is configured to receive a workpiece to be cut. A cutting head is configured to expel the slurry through the outlet nozzle as a high-velocity jet into the cutting bed.

A vacuum diverter defined by a housing or hollow body having a first end, a second end, a plurality of sides, and an opening formed in one of the plurality of sides. A valve flap is disposed within the hollow body and moveable between a first position and a second position. The valve flap is supported by a shaft that extends across a cavity defined by the housing and which is rotationally supported by the housing such that the shaft and valve flap can be removed from the housing in a crossing direction relative to an axis of rotation of the shaft. Rotation of the shaft effectuates rotation of the valve flap relative to the cavity to selectively fluidly connect the discrete vacuum flow passages defined by the housing.

A system and method for abrasive solvent jet cutting including generating, with a high-pressure pump, a jet of rapidly moving liquid comprising a retrograde soluble solute dissolved in solvent; directing the jet of rapidly moving liquid through an orifice to cut a target, such that the retrograde soluble solute is configured to precipitate out of the rapidly moving liquid after transitioning through the orifice. An apparatus for abrasive solvent jet cutting including a storage vessel configured to store a retrograde soluble solute; a high-pressure solvent compartment; and a mixing tube configured to eject a jet of rapidly moving liquid through an orifice, the liquid comprising solvent from the compartment and the retrograde soluble solute from the vessel, such that the retrograde soluble solute is configured to precipitate out of the rapidly moving liquid after ejecting from the orifice.

An abrasive water-jet cutting machine, comprising pumping means, fluidly connectable to a water source, a cutting head, comprising a mixing chamber, a dispensing system of powdered abrasive material, comprising a tank, a supply tube and an actuator interposed between the tank and the supply tube, which delivers the powdered abrasive material contained in the tank into the mixing chamber, through the supply tube; wherein the cutting head mixes, in the mixing chamber, the abrasive material with the water jet forming a water-abrasive material mixture jet, and said cutting head delivers the water-abrasive material mixture jet; wherein the powdered abrasive material delivered into the mixing chamber is homogeneously dispersed in suspension in a water-based gelatinous fluid; and wherein the actuator is a peristaltic pump.

Computer based methods, systems, and techniques for planning and generating machining paths for a tool that manufactures a three dimensional object having beveled or “compound” contours from a workpiece. A computer aided design (CAD)/computer aided manufacturing (CAM) system creates intermediate machining path surfaces that extend based on a CAD solid model representing the geometry of the object to be manufactured. The intermediate machining path surfaces extend to a shape that simulates a cutting beam (e.g., a waterjet, a laser beam, etc.) of the tool. For a flat workpiece, the machining path surfaces may extend from a top surface of the workpiece, which is a tool beam entrance surface, to a bottom surface of the workpiece, which is a tool beam exit surface. An operator is able to visualize the cuts to be made and the actual finished object geometry, without requiring the creation of multiple CAD solid models.

An operational monitoring system for use with a liquid jet cutting system can include an accelerometer coupled to a cutting head of the liquid jet cutting system. The accelerometer can be configured to generate motion data associated with movement of the cutting head. The system can include a computing device operably connected to the accelerometer and having a memory and a processor. The memory can store a planned data set including expected parameters associated with movement of the cutting head along a planned cut path. In some embodiments, the computing device is configured to receive the motion data from the accelerometer and correlate the motion data to the planned data set.