Magna International Inc.

Cosma Engineering Europe Ag

Alexander Zak

Andreas Stranz

Seetarama S Kotagiri

Philipp Stoeger

Frank A Horton

John Richard Potocki

Franz Trubert

James Byrne, Ii

Edward Schleichert

Rajeev Verma

Frank Gabbianelli

John B Johnson

Gary Banasiak

Ying Zhang

Venugopal Garimella

Mari Chellman

Rahul Meka

Hannes Halbauer

Rajesh Angadi

Nikhil Madan Yardi

Valentine Flitsch

Rainer Lottes

Dusko Perovski

Stephan Franschitz

James R Byrne

Seetarama Kotagiri

James R Byrne Ii

A robot assembly for safe operation in a manufacturing setting with humans including a sensor for detecting a human location and human movement is provided. A safety control module providing a boundary of a safety zone area that is associated with the human in a task oriented state that includes a largest possible area in which the human or an associated work object can extend when the human is standing in one location and performing the work task. The human movement and safety zone area location being used to develop a capture set area that includes at least one predictive future safety zone area location. Using the at least one predicted future safety zone area, establishing a travel path for moving the robot between locations without overlapping the capture set area.

Safety control module for a robot assembly and method of same

A system and method for automatically moving one or more items between a structure at a source location and a destination using a robot is provided. The system includes first and second vision systems to identify an item and to determine the precise location and orientation of the item at the source location and the precise location and orientation of the destination, which may or may not be in a fixed location. A controller plans the best path for the robot to follow in moving the item between the source location and the destination. An end effector on the robot picks the item from the source location, holds it as the robot moves, and places the item at the destination. The system may also check the item for quality by one or both of the vision systems. An example of loading and unloading baskets from a machine is provided.

System and method for adaptive bin picking for manufacturing

A system and method for laser cutting a plurality of parts, for example metal chassis components, using a plurality of laser cutting apparatuses is provided. The system includes a plurality of the laser cutting apparatuses disposed in a single enclosed cell for simultaneously trimming multiple parts. The system also includes at least one inner chamber and at least one set of double doors for transferring the parts in and out of the enclosed cell without any light escaping the cell. The parts are conveyed through the first door to the inner chamber while the second door is closed, and through the second door to the enclosed cell while the first door is closed. The system also includes robots continuously preloading and unloading the parts to maximize the laser trimming time.

System and method for high output laser trimming

A system and method for automatically moving one or more parts between a bin at a source location and a destination using a robot is provided. The system includes a first vision system to identify a part within the bin and to determine the pick location and pick orientation of the part. A second vision system determines the location and orientation of a destination inside or outside of the bin, which may or may not be in a fixed location. A controller plans the best path for the robot to follow in moving the part between the pick location and the destination. An end effector is attached to the robot for picking the part from the bin, holding the part as the robot moves it, and placing the part at the destination. The system may also check the part for quality by one or both of the vision systems.

A system and method for orienting a workpiece on an assembly line to prepare the workpiece for an operation is provided. The method includes positioning a flexible fixture on the assembly line. The flexible fixture has a base and at least one adjustable component. The workpiece is positioned on the flexible fixture. A first orientation of the workpiece relative to the flexible fixture is detected with a detection device and transmitted to a calibrator. The calibrator determines a difference between the detected first orientation of the workpiece and a predetermined fixture orientation and transmits instructions from the calibrator to the flexible fixture to move the workpiece from the detected first orientation to the predetermined fixture orientation. The workpiece is moved with the at least one adjustable component into the predetermined fixture orientation and is fixedly held with the adjustable component.

Flexible fixturing

An automotive component () is manufactured by depositing a non-metallic coating () on a surface of a steel blank () before hot stamping the steel blank (). The non-metallic coating () is typically applied by physical vapor deposition. The non-metallic coating () is formed of one to three layers () each having a different composition. The non-metallic coating () includes at least one of silicon and carbon, and can also include oxygen, nitrogen, ceramic compounds, and carbides. The total thickness of the non-metallic coating () is less than 300 nm. A metallic coating () can be applied to the steel blank before the non-metallic coating (). The non-metallic coating () provides numerous advantages, including reduced scaling during the hot stamping process.

Automotive components formed of sheet metal coated with a non-metallic coating

A door assembly for a vehicle is provided. The door assembly includes an inner panel and an outer panel which are joined together to define a central space therebetween. The central space has a front which faces towards the front of a vehicle and a back which faces towards a back of the vehicle. Both the inner and outer panels are made of aluminum, and at least one reinforcement beam made of steel is disposed in the central space between the aluminum inner and outer panels to provide the door assembly with increased impact resistance.

Vehicle door

An explosion forming apparatus () that preferably utilizes a shock wave () directed along a work piece () to progressively conform the work piece to a contour die cavity ().

Explosion forming system

The invention is intended to improve a method for explosive forming of a workpiece by means of gas explosion, in which the workpiece is arranged in a intake area of a moulding tool, wherein the intake area is at least partially filled with liquid and the explosion is triggered by ignition of an explosive gas mixture, to the effect that the method is suitable and simplified for mass production. This object is solved by a method for explosive forming of a workpiece by means of gas explosion, in which the workpiece is arranged in a intake area of a moulding tool, wherein the intake area is at least partially filled with liquid and the explosion is triggered by means of ignition of an explosive gas mixture, in which the explosive gas mixture is provided at least partially above the surface of the liquid before the ignition.

Method and mould arrangement for explosion forming

An assembly () for a vehicle includes two longitudinal members () and a crossmember () connected therebetween at a connection point () of the crossmember () to the longitudinal members (). The crossmember () is made predominantly of fiber composite material and the longitudinal members () are made predominantly of a metal material. The connection point () between the crossmember () and the longitudinal member () comprises an overlapping region (B), in which a connection segment () of the longitudinal member (), which is predominantly composed of metal material, overlaps at least in some segments with a part of the crossmember (), which is predominantly composed of fiber composite material.

Twist beam axle

Through the invention, an ignition device for explosive forming of work pieces in a forming die, which has an ignition mechanism and an ignition tube, and in which the ignition tube guides the explosion ignited by the ignition mechanism into the work piece inserted in the forming die, is to be improved, in that it permits, in practice, an arrangement of the ignition mechanism and forming die that is easier to handle and geared toward the occurring explosion forces. This task is solved by an ignition device, in which a curved guide is provided between the ignition mechanism and the forming die.

Ignition device for explosive forming

With the invention, a method and device for explosive forming of work pieces, in which at least one work piece is arranged in at least one die and deformed by means of an explosive to be ignited, is to be improved, in that an ignition mechanism that is technically simple to handle, is produced with the shortest possible setup time, which permits the most precise possible ignition of the explosive with time-repeatable accuracy. This task is solved by a method and device, in which at least one work piece is arranged in at least one die and deformed by means of an explosive to be ignited, in which the explosive is ignited by means of induction.

Method and device for explosive forming

In one aspect, the invention is directed to a crush can for a vehicle frame including a crush can body having a longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape that is at least approximately a 10-sided polygon. In another aspect, the invention is directed to a crush can for a vehicle frame including a crush can body having a longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape that includes a plurality of outwardly pointing apexes and a plurality of inwardly pointing apexes.

Scalable crush can for vehicle

With the invention, a device for fluid feed for explosive forming, which has a valve and an activating mechanism to activate the valve, is to be improved, so that the device permits both good filling of a die with fluid and good sealing during the explosive forming process in a technically simple design. This task is solved by a device for fluid feed for explosive forming that has a valve and an activating mechanism to activate the valve, in which the activating mechanism is arranged separate from the valve in an inactivated valve state.

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Moedling, Austria

Alexander Zak