Flexible punch and weld system
AssigneeMagna Exteriors Inc.
InventorHideki Yamamoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flexible assembling system incorporating at least one manufacturing cell including at least one universal fixture, at least one position monitoring device (e,g., monitoring system, 3D vision system, 3D vision system/scanner, artificial intelligence position determination and monitoring, artificial intelligence vision system to locate part or a feature(s) of the part, and combinations thereof), and at least one programmable robot or machine (e.g., punch, weld, etc.). The at least one universal fixture is a non-dedicated fixture such that the fixture is usable with various products and not dedicated to only one specific part being manufactured.
Claims20
A flexible assembling system, comprising:
- at least one part fixture adapted to operably support a plurality of predetermined parts;
- at least one tool adapted to selectively perform at least one predetermined process on each of said plurality of predetermined parts;
- at least one position monitoring system adapted to selectively locate the position of each of said plurality of predetermined parts, and/or the position of predetermined features of each of said plurality of predetermined parts, supported on said at least one part fixture;
- and
- at least one robot adapted to process said location and selectively operably retrieve and hold each of said plurality of predetermined parts during tool processing, said at least one robot being programable to selectively process any shaped plurality of predetermined parts.
A flexible assembling system adapted for vehicle parts, comprising:
- at least one part fixture with universal support adapted for selectively holding a plurality of different shaped parts;
- at least one punch and weld station, comprising at least one punch tooling and at least one sonic weld tooling, wherein said at least one punch tooling and at least one sonic weld tooling are selectively changeable depending on which of said plurality of different shaped parts are being processed in said at least one punch and weld station;
- at least one position monitoring system adapted to selectively locate a part or at least one part feature of said plurality of different shaped parts;
- and
- at least one programmable robot or machine adapted for processing said plurality of different shaped parts.
A flexible assembling system adapted for manufacturing vehicle parts, comprising:
- at least one part fixture with universal support adapted for selectively holding a plurality of different shaped parts, wherein the at least one part fixture is not a CNC nest;
- at least one punch and weld station, comprising at least one punch tooling and at least one sonic weld tooling, wherein said at least one punch tooling and at least one sonic weld tooling are selectively changeable depending on which of said plurality of different shaped parts are being processed in said at least one punch and weld station;
- at least one position monitoring system incorporating artificial intelligence, said at least one position monitoring system adapted to selectively locate a part or at least one part feature of said plurality of different shaped parts at least once each cycle;
- and
- at least one programmable robot or machine adapted for processing said plurality of different shaped parts, wherein once said location is determined, said at least one programmable robot is adapted to selectively retrieve and hold each of said plurality of different shaped parts individually while being processed at said at least one punch and weld station.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.