Apparatus for the assembly and/or machining of circulating and immobilizable parts carried by pallets

Plural interchangeable-module apparatus for moving individual pallets, each adapted for supporting a workpiece, over a defined path enabling a workpiece to pass one or more work stations, said apparatus comprising:

• (a) a plurality of substantially identical base units adapted to be secured to each other in juxtaposed end-to-end fashion, substantially all said base units having the same predetermined length in the direction of said end-to-end juxtaposition;
• (b) a plurality of pallet transport means each detachably connectable to any said base unit, the upper surface of each said pallet transport means having a guide means extending throughout its length and defining a generally rectilinear segment of said defined path, said guide means having a length substantially equal to said predetermined length of any said base unit, the combined height of any said base unit with a pallet transport means supported thereon being such as to cause the path segment of such pallet transport means to be situated substantially at waist level to optionally permit a person to conveniently perform a manual operation on a workpiece supported on a said pallet;
• (c) means for removably connecting each pallet transport means, in a direction of movement transverse to that of the rectilinear segment defined by the associated pallet transport means, to any said base unit, said connecting means including cooperating fastening elements on respectively each base unit and the associated pallet transport means for enabling alignment of said end-to-end juxtaposed plurality of pallet transport means to facilitate the smooth movement of any pallet over said defined path;
• (d) at least one said pallet transport means including auxiliary transport means for enabling transport of a pallet over a secondary transport path segment extending laterally from the rectilinear segment defined by such pallet transport means;
• (e) at least one pallet being connected to said plurality of pallet transport means for movement over said defined path;
• and
• (f) a work station associated with said at least one pallet transport means and adapted to cooperate with a pallet located on said secondary transport path;
• whereby any said pallet transport means may conveniently and quickly, by means of unskilled labor, be detached from a base unit on which it is supported and connected to any other base unit to thereby facilitate the rearrangement of pallet transport means of different kinds in said apparatus to accommodate said modular apparatus to the specific requirements of a particular operation without rearranging said base units, while still optionally also permitting the addition, deletion, and rearrangement of base units when expansion, contraction, or reconfiguration of the apparatus is desired.