Machine for installing flexible covers on seat cushions having sliding stanchion carriage for closely following the contour of the seat cushion

A seat assembly machine for assembling flexible covers on foam seat cushions, the seat cushion having a contoured surface, comprising:

• a frame having first and second axes generally perpendicular with each other;
• a seat cushion retainer carried by the frame adapted to retain a foam seat along the frist axis;
• at least one stanchion rod adapted to receive a flexible cover inside out;
• a movable stanchion rod base supporting the at least one stanchion rod;
• a linear slide assembly fixed to the frame and carrying the stanchion rod base such that the stanchion rod base is slidable relatively to the frame in the second axis;
• an actuator carried by the frame operatively connected to the at least one stanchion rod or the seat cushion retainer, operative between expanded and contracted positions to facilitate relative reciprocating movement between the at least one stanchion rod and the seat cushion retainer along the first axis;
• and
• a cam mechanism including a track having an eccentric surface matched closely to the contoured surface of an intended seat cushion and a follower adapted to follow along the ecentric surface, the stanchion rod base being operatively connected to the cam mechanism and substantially following the ecentric surface such that the position of the stanchion rods in the second axis is determined by the relative positions of the seat retainer and stanchion rods along the first axis.