Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc.

Aaron Thomas Russick

Daniel D Minor

Steven Mark Sunday

Larry Richard Erdman

Jeffrey Boyd Grimshaw

John Richard Snyder

Tracy William Erickson

Gary David Mason

Tom Duane Rabe

Steven Ronald Erdman

A flexible manufacturing line and manufacturing process employs an overhead gantry system to transfer fixtured workpieces between machining stations served by the gantry system. The machining stations include CNC machines, turret cells, and/or dedicated machines which receive the fixtured workpieces through top-entry openings. The invention provides flexibility and adaptability to variation, improved maintenance of reference position on the fixture during manufacture, improved accessibility to machining stations during operation, and increased safety.

Flexible manufacturing and workpiece transfer system

A flexible manufacturing line and manufacturing process employs an overhead gantry system to transfer fixtured workpieces between machining stations served by the gantry system. The manufacturing system includes a fixturing system including a transfer unit specially configured for quick connection and quick disconnection from a machining table. An accurate placement of the transfer unit is achieved using a combination of locating features.

Quick connect/disconnect workpiece transfer unit

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Charlotte, NC, United States of America

Aaron Thomas Russick