Flexible automotive assembly line and method

An apparatus for assembling an automobile body on an assembly line having a right-hand body subassembly line, a left-hand body subassembly line and an underbody subassembly line, for delivery to a pallet transport system for movement through a body framing subassembly line, comprising:

• means for transporting automotive components along at least one of the subassembly lines with an overhead transport system, the transporting means including at least one rail for defining a path along the at least one subassembly line, at least one trolley movably associated with the at least one rail for moving an automotive component along the at least one subassembly line, and a carriage movably associated with the at least one trolley for vertically moving between a raised position and a lowered position relative to the at least one rail;
• means for selectively supporting a plurality of automotive body styles from the overhead transport system for transport along the subassembly line in any sequential order, wherein the supporting means includes a plurality of antler nests, each nest individually engageable with the carriage for supporting at least one of a plurality of automotive components corresponding to a plurality of different automotive body styles to be processed on the subassembly line, at least one antler nest for each different body style to be transported along the subassembly line;
• means for exchanging one antler nest engaged with the carriage with another antler nest to be engaged with the carriage;
• means for selectively positioning one of a plurality of geometry fixtures in a ready position of said at least one workstation on the subassembly line, at least one geometry fixture corresponding to each automotive body style to be assembled on the assembly line, wherein said positioning means is operable to remove a first geometry fixture from the ready position and locate a second geometry fixture in the ready position during a time period corresponding to a cycle of removing a first component from the first geometry fixture and delivering a second component to the at least one workstation such that a plurality of different automotive body styles can be assembled in concurrent sequential order on the at least one subassembly line;
• and
• means for conveying the automotive components along the pallet transport system on the body framing subassembly line after delivery from the overhead transport system of the at least one sub-assembly line.

A method for assembling an automobile body on an assembly line having a right-hand body subassembly line, a left-hand body subassembly line and an underbody subassembly line, for delivery to a pallet transport system for movement through a body framing subassembly line, comprising the steps of:

• transporting automotive components along at least one of the subassembly lines with an overhead transport system, wherein the transporting step includes the step of moving automotive components along at least one rail defining a path through the subassembly line with a trolley movably associated with the at least one rail and a carriage vertically movable between a raised position and a lowered position relative to the at least one rail, and engaging one of a plurality of antler nests with the carriage for supporting the automotive component during transport along the subassembly line;
• exchanging one antler nest engaged with the carriage with another antler nest to be engaged with the carriage with exchanging means;
• positioning one of a plurality of geometry fixtures at a ready position of said at least one workstation on the subassembly line, at least one geometry fixture corresponding to each automotive body style to be assembled on the assembly line, wherein said positioning step includes the steps of removing a first geometry fixture from the ready position with positioning means, and locating a second geometry fixture in the ready position during a time period corresponding to a cycle of removing a first component from the first geometry fixture and delivering a second component to the at least one workstation such that a plurality of different automotive body styles can be assembled in concurrent sequential order on the at least one subassembly line;
• and
• conveying the automotive components along the pallet transport system on the body framing subassembly line after delivery from the overhead transport system of the at least one sub-assembly line.

An apparatus for assembling a selectable one of a plurality of automotive body configurations comprising:

• at least one overhead transport system for delivering components to be assembled into an automotive body along a predetermined path of travel between assembly workstations;
• at least one flexible body assembly workstation having interchangeable geometry fixtures moveable along an underlying rail system, the interchangeable geometry fixtures corresponding to a selectable one of a plurality of automotive body configurations to be produced through the workstation;
• at least one fixture handling system for each flexible body assembly workstation for positioning the selected geometry fixture corresponding to the next component to be delivered by the overhead transport system to the particular flexible body assembly workstation;
• and
• at least one automotive body framing workstation having a pallet transport system for moving a plurality of pallets along an underlying rail system extending between framing workstations, the pallets supporting the automotive components to be assembled received from the overhead transport system and transporting the assembled automotive components defining an automotive body between the framing workstations.