Loading patent…
AssigneeDeutsche Aerospace Airbus GmbH
InventorsHelmut Eickhorst, Enno Wilken
Estimating the term…
A large surface area work piece, such as a piece of sheet metal to be three-dimensionally deformed is held by a suction cup member which in turn is pivotally supported by a bearing disk and by a support that holds the bearing disk as a pivot socket. Two cooperating slide bearing surfaces are formed between the support and the bearing disk and two further cooperating slide bearing surfaces are formed between the bearing disk and the suction cup member. As a result, the angular adjustment movement of the suction cup member is substantially increased with the aid of the bearing disk. In operation, the applied suction or reduced pressure holds the components and the work piece in place. Venting or a slight excess pressure is applied to release the work piece. A flexible loop holds the three components together when suction is not applied.
An apparatus for holding a large surface area thin work piece by suction for shaping said work piece, comprising a support (1), a bearing disk (2), and a suction cup member (3) for holding said work piece by suction, a first pair of cooperating sliding bearing surfaces (4, 5) between said support (1) and said bearing disk (2) for permitting relative movement between said support and said bearing disk, a second pair of cooperating sliding bearing surfaces (7, 8) between said bearing disk (2) and suction cup member (3), whereby said bearing disk and said suction cup member are position adjustable relative to each other and relative to said support for positioning said suction cup member (3) in a work piece holding position, said support (1) having a first central recess (9) with a first stop wall (13) surrounded by said sliding bearing surface (5) of said support (1), said bearing disk (2) having a first central projection (11) reaching into said first central recess (9) for limiting relative movement between said support (1) and said bearing disk (2) when said first central projection (11) contacts said first stop wall (13), said bearing disk (2) having a second central recess (10) with a second stop wall (14) surrounded by said sliding bearing surface (7) of said bearing disk (2), said suction cup member (3) having a second central projection (12) reaching into said second central recess (10) for limiting relative movement between said bearing disk (2) and said suction cup member (3) when said second central projection (12) contacts said second stop wall (14).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.