Fixturing a head spindle assembly with an expanding collet

An apparatus for positioning a component, the apparatus comprising:

• a housing defining a longitudinal passage:
• a collet having a bushing that is longitudinally slidable on a shaft in the passage and having a plurality of segmented gripping members extending from the bushing that are selectively moveable relative to the housing to different longitudinal positions differentiating a first mode, where the gripping members are radially retracted establishing a clearing disengagement from the component, and a second mode, where a tapered surface of the gripping members contactingly engages the shaft to radially expand the gripping members thereby establishing a contacting engagement of the gripping members against the component:
• a latch that is selectively activated to retain the gripping members in the first mode;
• and
• a bias spring trained around the collet and compressingly disposed between the bushing and the housing, thereby responsive to deactivating the latch to urge the gripping members to the second mode and maintain the longitudinal force in the second mode so the longitudinal force transfers to the component via the contacting engagement of the gripping members against the component in the second mode of the gripping members.