Methods for picking and placing workpieces into small form factor hard disk drives
AssigneeWestern Digital Technologies, Inc.
InventorsJambunathan Vangal-Ramamurthy, Walter W. Butler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of driving screws may include steps of providing a robotically controlled screw driver, a servo motor assembly for moving the screw driver, at least one controller for controlling the screw driver and the servo motor assembly, and a machine vision assembly coupled to the controller. The screw may be coupled to the screw driver, and the screw may be aligned with a threaded hole using the machine vision assembly and the controller to control the servo motor assembly, such that the screw is aligned with a center of the threaded hole. The aligned screw may then be driven into the threaded hole.
Claims14
A method of driving screws, comprising:
- providing a robotically controlled screw driver, a servo motor assembly for moving the screw driver, at least one controller for controlling the screw driver and the servo motor assembly, and a machine vision assembly coupled to the controller;
- generating an image of a screw using the machine vision assembly;
- aligning the screwdriver to the screw using the image;
- coupling the screw to the screw driver;
- generating an image of a threaded hole using the machine vision assembly;
- aligning the screw with the threaded hole based at least in part upon the image using the controller to control the servo motor assembly, such that the screw is substantially aligned with a center of the threaded hole;
- and
- driving the aligned screw into the threaded hole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.