Apparatus for assembling ring-shaped articles

An apparatus for assembling ring-shaped articles comprising:

• means for supplying first ring-shaped articles one by one to a first delivery end;
• means for supplying second ring-shaped articles one by one to a second delivery end;
• first article holding means disposed adjacent to said first delivery end for receiving and retaining thereon first ring-shaped articles one at a time;
• second article holding means disposed adjacent to said second delivery end for receiving and retaining thereon second ring-shaped articles one at a time;
• head means movable between said second and first article holding means for picking up the second ring-shaped article on said second article holding means to transfer the second article so as to place the same onto the first ring-shaped article on the first article holding means in concentrically overlapping relation;
• and
• die means movable toward and away from the first article holding means for acting upon the overlapped first and second ring-shaped articles on the first article holding means to deform the first ring-shaped article so as to cause one article to engage the other article, thereby producing an inseparable pair of the first and second articles.