Variable compliance device
AssigneeAuto/Con Corporation
InventorsRonald R. Matheson, Daniel E. Hucul, James Burkhardt, Joseph W. Schepke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A variable compliance assembly is disclosed for use in automatic assembly operations. The variable compliance assembly includes a housing having an interior chamber; a base member, positioned on the surface of the interior chamber, moveable in a multi-directional fashion; a fluid spring operably associated with the housing and base member for controlling the multi-directional movement of the base member and for returning the base member to a normal, self-centering seating position; and a mechanism for associating a pressurized fluid source with the fluid spring to vary the amount of control exerted by the fluid spring on the base member.
Claims20
A variable compliance assembly comprising:
- a housing,
- a base member positioned in said housing, said base member having movement relative to said housing,
- a fluid spring associated with said housing and with said base member for controlling the movement of said base member and biasing said base member to a seating position, and
- means associated with said housing for providing fluid to said fluid spring.
A variable compliance assembly comprising:
- a housing including a top wall secured to a moveable member, a sidewall depending from said top wall, an annular flange angularly depending from said sidewall, said flange having a free depending end defining a circular opening in said housing, wherein said top wall, sidewall, and flange define an interior chamber in said housing having an interior seating surface;
- base member means seated on the interior surface of said depending flange in said interior chamber and having multi-directional movement on said interior seating surface;
- fluid spring means operably associated with said base member means and said housing for controlling the multi-directional movement of said base member means;
- and
- means associated with said housing and with the interior of said fluid spring means for providing and removing a working fluid into said fluid spring means.
A compliance assembly for an automatic assembly operation having a first workpiece associated with a second workpiece, comprising means for mounting said assembly to a working device, means for gripping a workpiece, means for moving said gripping means relative to said mounting means in response to forces created by the interface of said first workpiece with said second workpiece, fluid spring means for controlling said movement of said gripping means and for self-centering said gripping means relative to said mounting means, and means for varying the amount of control said fluid spring means exerts on said movement of said gripping means.
A compliance device for an automatic assembly operator comprising fluid spring means for complying the position of a workpiece held by said device with a second desired position misaligned from said first position and means for controlling the amount of compliance rendered by said complying means, including means for varying said amount of compliance by providing or removing a working fluid into said fluid spring means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.