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US 5,120,189 AGranted
Jump indexing pallet and method for heat exchanger assembly
AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorsMichael A. Breda, George K. Snyder, Peter A. Lyon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorsMichael A. Breda, George K. Snyder, Peter A. Lyon
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus for assembling heat exchanger elements includes a pallet comprising a frame and a plurality of blocks slidably aligned on each side of the frame with opposed pairs of blocks slotted to receive pairs of plates dropped into the pallet. Lead screws driven by servomotors and engaging the blocks position the blocks at the loading station and control the block spacing (determined at each station by the screw pitch) to allow plate insertion or to allow insertion of fin elements between the plates. To quickly move the pallet into the station auxiliary lead screws connected to the main screws engage the blocks of the pallet outside the loading station to assert positive controlled advancement force on the pallet.
The method of sequentially advancing a plurality of pallets through a loading station with minimal delay between pallets wherein the pallets are adapted to receive an entire heat exchanger core assembly including a preselected number of elements for the assembly at the loading station, said method comprising the steps of:
The method of sequentially advancing a plurality of pallets through a loading station with minimal delay between pallets wherein the pallets are adapted to receive an entire heat exchanger core assembly including a preselected number of elements for the assembly at the loading station, said method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.