Manufacturing fixtures for small form factor desktop computer
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsHoutan R. Farahani, Joseph B. Moak, Matthew D. Rohrbach
Life of this patent
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Abstract
One automated process for evenly applying a thin layer within a device housing includes applying a vacuum hold from a curved surface applicator to the thin layer, pressing the thin layer against the device housing with the applicator, wherein said pressing includes applying pressure from the center of the applicator first and then radially expanding said pressure, and pressing the cylindrical outer housing against an outer region of the thin layer to effect a hard pressed application at the outer surface thereof.
Claims17
A cutting tool for cutting a notch within a side wall of a housing that defines an interior cavity, the cutting tool comprising:
- a plurality of blades extending from a central hub, each of the plurality of blades having a substantially triangular geometry, wherein the plurality of blades cooperate to form a substantially square cross section and wherein a cutting radius of the plurality of blades is about 1.4 times a length of one side of the substantially square cross section;
- and
- a cutting shaft having an end coupled to a central portion of the central hub of the plurality of blades and configured to rotate the pinwheel cutting blade about an axis arranged along a longitudinal axis of the cutting shaft,
- wherein a depth of the notch corresponds to the cutting radius of the plurality of blades.
A method for cutting a notch into a surface defining an interior cavity of an electronic device housing, the method comprising:
- orienting a plurality of cutting blades disposed about a central hub such that a minimum dimension of the plurality of blades is substantially aligned with a minimum dimension of an opening in the electronic device housing, wherein a minimum dimension of the plurality of cutting blades is substantially shorter than a cutting radius of the plurality of cutting blades;
- passing the plurality of blades through the opening and into the interior cavity;
- and
- cutting the notch into the surface defining the interior cavity of the electronic device housing.
A cutting assembly for machining a notch into an interior surface of a housing formed from a single piece of metal, the cutting assembly comprising:
- a cutting tool, comprising:
- a plurality of substantially triangular blades extending from a central hub, the plurality of blades having a substantially rectangular cross section, wherein a cutting radius of the plurality of blades is greater than a length of a longest side of the substantially rectangular cross section, and
- a cutting shaft having an end coupled to a central portion of the central hub of the pinwheel cutting blade and configured to rotate the pinwheel cutting blade about an axis arranged along a longitudinal axis of the cutting shaft;
- and
- a fixturing device configured to secure the housing in place while the cutting tool applies a cutting operation within the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.