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      <title>Tool Axis</title>
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      <div class="title_topic4" id="xps10_pagetitle">Tool Axis</div>
      <hr noshade="true">
      <p class="para_topic">The Tool Axis option allows you to specify the tool orientation with respect to the surfaces being machined. There are three general methods of tool axis control.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/seqmill_figuressmpg26a.gif"></p>
      <div class="title_division">3-axis</div>
      <p class="para_division">3-axis causes tool axis data to be output equivalent to having a fixed tool axis. It opens a Three Axis Options dialog box.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Method allows you to use the following methods to specify a fixed tool axis.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/seqmill_figuressmpg27.gif"></p>
      <p class="para_division">Zm-axis - This causes the tool axis to be parallel to the Zm-axis, (Machine coordinate Z-axis).</p>
      <p class="para_division">Fixed Vector - This causes the tool axis to remain constant along a specified vector. This vector orients the tool from its tip to its shank. The Vector Subfunction menu appears and is used to specify the tool axis vector.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Same - This causes the tool axis to remain fixed at the final orientation of the previous sub-operation. Use Same to change from multi-axis motion to three-axis.</p>
      <div class="title_division">4-axis</div>
      <p class="para_division">4-axis causes tool axis data to be controlled by forcing the tool axis to remain perpendicular to a specified vector. It opens a Four Axis Options dialog box.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Method allows you to choose from the following options.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/seqmill_figuressmpg27a.gif"></p>
      <table border="0">
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            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
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               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body"> NOTE: For most types of multi-axis motion, the tool axis is determined by its origin with respect to the drive surface or the part surface. This surface is called the Controlling Surface. In the Four Axis Options dialog, the Controlling Surface for Proj PS Normal, Tangent to PS, and At Angle to PS is the part surface, while the controlling surface for the Proj DS Normal, Tangent to DS, and At Angle to DS is the drive surface. These rules also apply to the methods on the Five Axis Options dialog.</p>
                  <p class="para_note_body"></p>
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      <p class="para_division">Project Part Surface (or Drive Surface) Normal indicates that the tool axis is obtained by rotating the designated surface normal by a lead or lag angle, projecting the resulting vector onto a plane perpendicular to the specified Perpto Vector, and then rotating it in that plane by a specified angle. This option causes the Perpto Vector and the Next Cut Direction buttons to show. In the following figure, the Perpto Vector is perpendicular to the plane of the paper and points out of the plane of the paper. The tool axis is perpendicular to that vector, shown first with no rotation and then with 30 degrees of rotation.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Perpto Vector - This option activates the vector subfunction dialog.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Next Cut Direction - This option activates the vector subfunction dialog. This is used only in Engage sub-operations.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Rotation (deg) - The rotation amount is applied after the surface normal is projected on to a plane perpendicular to the specified Perpto Vector. Initially, the default rotation angle is zero.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Lead/Lag (deg) - is the angle that the tool axis makes with a plane that is perpendicular to the current direction of motion. A positive angle corresponds to a Lead angle (i.e., the angle between the tool axis and the direction of motion is acute), while negative angle corresponds to a Lag angle (i.e., the angle between the tool axis and the direction of motion is obtuse). The designated surface normal will be rotated by the Lead or Lag angle in the plane containing the current direction of motion. The resulting vector will then be projected onto a plane perpendicular to the given Perpto Vector.</p>
      <div class="figure">
         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/seqmill_enat10.gif"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">4-Axis, Proj PS Normal</div>
      <p class="para_division">If the rotation angle falls outside the range of 180 degrees to -180 degrees, the error message Absolute Value Of Angle Exceeds 180 Degrees appears and you must respecify the angle.</p>
      <table border="0">
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            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
            <td valign="bottom" align="left" width="100%">
               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body"> NOTE: In a right-handed coordinate system with the projected PS normal as the positive x-axis and the Perpto Vector as the positive z-axis, a positive rotation angle corresponds to a counterclockwise rotation in the xy-plane and a negative rotation angle corresponds to a clockwise rotation in that plane.</p>
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      </table>
      <p class="para_division">Tangent To PS (or DS) indicates that you want the side of the tool to be tangent to the designated surface while the tool axis remains perpendicular to the specified Perpto Vector.</p>
      <div class="figure">
         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/seqmill_enat09.gif"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">4-Axis, Tangent To Drive Surface</div>
      <table border="0">
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            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
            <td valign="bottom" align="left" width="100%">
               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body"> NOTE: With some tapered tools, it may be impossible to keep the side of the tool tangent to the controlling surface while the tool axis remains normal to the Perpto vector. If this happens, the tool axis becomes the projection of the controlling surface normal onto the plane perpendicular to the specified Perpto vector.</p>
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      <p class="para_division">After selecting this option, you must specify a ring on the cutter to indicate where the side of the tool touches the controlling surface for the multi-axis motion (see &quot;B&quot; in the above figure) using the Tool Ring option menu:</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/seqmill_figuressmpg29.gif"></p>
      <table border="0">
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            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
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               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body"> NOTE: Many types of multi-axis motion produce good results only if the point where the tool contacts the controlling surface lies on a fixed ring on the surface of the cutter. The center of this ring lies on the tool axis and the ring lies in a plane normal to the tool axis. The ring is not used if the if the tool end tip lies on the controlling surface. Otherwise, the ring determines where the tool contacts the controlling surface. However, the full cutter is used to determine where the the tool contacts the remaining surfaces in the suboperation (unless the check surface is tangent to the controlling surface, in which case the ring is also used for the check surface). In the following figure, &quot;B&quot; shows how the ring is used for the drive surface and &quot;A&quot; shows how the full cutter is used for the part and check surfaces.</p>
               </div>
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      <p class="para_division">Default - places the ring at the bottom of the flat side of the tool. If the tool is a five parameter cutter and the tool taper angle and tool tip angle are both zero, this is equivalent to setting the ring height equal to the tool corner radius and the ring radius equal to the tool radius.</p>
      <table border="0">
         <tr>
            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
            <td valign="bottom" align="left" width="100%">
               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body"> NOTE: When you need to use a ring, Default is almost always the best choice. There are very few situations where Height Only; Height, Radius; and Hin Value are needed.</p>
               </div>
            </td>
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      </table>
      <p class="para_division">Height Only - requires you to specify the height (distance above the tool end tip) of the ring. The radius of the tool at that height is the radius of the ring. If the specified ring height exceeds the tool height, the radius of the ring is the radius of the upper extension of the flat side of the tool at the specified height. The specified height value cannot be negative.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Height,Radius - requires you to specify both the height (distance above the tool end tip) and the radius of the ring. The specified height and radius cannot be negative but there are no other restrictions on their values. The ring need not lie on the surface of the cutter. Specify a Hin value - a vertical distance from the bottom of the tool along the tool axis. The resulting point is projected. The ring radius may be greater than the tool radius at the specified height, etc.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Hin Value - This method is intended for use with tapered tools (i.e., tool tapered, the point is projected normal to the tool axis so that the ring itself is the same height above the tool end tip.) For non-tapered tools (i.e., tools whose taper angle is zero) this option is identical to the Height Only method.</p>
      <p class="para_division">In the following figure, the given distance d determines the point C on the tool axis which is projected onto the flat side of the tool (point G).</p>
      <p class="para_division">If the projection of the point on the tool axis lies above the flat side of the tool, the ring is located where the projection meets the upper extension of the flat side. This is illustrated by points D and H.</p>
      <p class="para_division">If the projection of the point on the tool axis lies below the flat side of the tool (i.e., on the bottom part of the cutter), the ring is located where the projection meets the cutter surface. This is illustrated by points A and E in the figure.</p>
      <p class="para_division">Finally, points B and F show the location of the default ring (not shown). This is the intersection of the tool side and the corner arc.</p>
      <div class="figure">
         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/seqmill_enat08.gif"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">Determining the Ring Location from the Hin Value</div>
      <p class="para_division">The Hin value entered cannot be negative. If it is, the error message HIN Value Cannot Be Negative will appear and you must respecify the value. The default value on the dialog is the value that would give the current ring (if there is one) or the default ring (if there is no ring currently).</p>
      <p class="para_division">None - indicates that no ring is used for the controlling surface and the regular cutter definition is used.</p>
      <table border="0">
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            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
            <td valign="bottom" align="left" width="100%">
               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body"> NOTE: A ring is never used in these cases:</p>
               </div>
            </td>
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      </table>
      <p class="para_division">4-Axis, Proj PS Normal</p>
      <p class="para_division">4-Axis, Proj DS Normal</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, Normal to PS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, Normal to DS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, Thru Fixed Point</p>
      <table border="0">
         <tr>
            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
            <td valign="bottom" align="left" width="100%">
               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body">A ring is always used in these cases:</p>
               </div>
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      </table>
      <p class="para_division">4-Axis, Tangent to PS</p>
      <p class="para_division">4-Axis, Tangent to DS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, Parallel to PS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, Parallel to DS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, Tangent to PS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, Tangent to DS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, Fan</p>
      <table border="0">
         <tr>
            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
            <td valign="bottom" align="left" width="100%">
               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body">In the remaining multi-axis options, sometimes a ring should be used and sometimes a ring should not be used:</p>
               </div>
            </td>
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      </table>
      <p class="para_division">4-Axis, At Angle to PS</p>
      <p class="para_division">4-Axis, At Angle to DS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, At Angle to PS</p>
      <p class="para_division">5-Axis, At Angle to DS</p>
      <table border="0">
         <tr>
            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
            <td valign="bottom" align="left" width="100%">
               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body">If the tool contacts the controlling surface on the flat side of the tool, you will probably want to use a ring to indicate the height where contact occurs. Otherwise, you will probably want the Tool Ring status to be None to prevent the tool from gouging the controlling surface.</p>
               </div>
            </td>
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      </table>
      <p class="para_division">At Angle To Ps (or Ds) indicates that you want the tool axis to maintain a fixed angle with the designated surface normal while remaining perpendicular to the specified Perpto vector. The set of all vectors making a given angle with the controlling surface normal forms a cone. The set of all vectors that are normal to the given Perpto vector forms a plane. In general, there are two possible intersections between the cone and the plane, so there are two possible tool axes. The sign of the angle is used to distinguish between the two candidates. A positive angle is measured from the Part (or Drive) Surface normal toward the other surface normal. A negative angle is measured away from the other surface normal.</p>
      <div class="figure">
         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/seqmill_enat07.gif"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">4-Axis, at Angle to Part Surface</div>
      <p class="para_division">The angle is measured in degrees and must lie in the range from -90 degrees to +90 degrees. If it falls outside this range, the error message Absolute Value Of Angle Exceeds 90 Degrees appears and the angle must be respecified.</p>
      <p class="para_division">The Tool Ring option menu allows you to specify a ring on the cutter where the tool contacts the controlling surface or to indicate that no ring is used for the surface.</p>
      <p class="para_division">If the tool contacts the controlling surface on the flat side of the tool, you will probably want to use a ring to indicate the height where contact occurs. Otherwise, you will probably want the Tool Ring status to be None to prevent the tool from gouging the controlling surface.</p>
      <table border="0">
         <tr>
            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
            <td valign="bottom" align="left" width="100%">
               <div class="para_note">
                  <p class="para_note_body"> NOTE: It may be impossible to keep the tool axis at the specified angle with the controlling surface normal and perpendicular to the Perpto vector. If this happens, the tool axis becomes the projection of the controlling surface normal onto the plane perpendicular to the specified Perpto vector.</p>
               </div>
            </td>
         </tr>
      </table>
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