General Electric Company

Donald C Peroutky

Allen W Case, Jr

Richard M Lund

Nelson R Corby, Jr

John E Bigelow

Norman R Kuchar

Stuart G Miller

A high response servodriven robotics tool carrier assembly is especially well adapted for carrying a tool, such as an arc welding torch. The robotics tool carrier assembly mounts the torch such that its tip is on the center line of the arm rotation axis of a robot welding machine. The robotics tool carrier assembly modulates the coarse robot movements which are programmed into the robot arm. A tilt linkage is used to tilt the torch about its tip so as to avoid obstructions. The tilt linkage is mounted upon a Z slide which adjusts the distance between the tip of the torch and a work surface. The Z slide is in turn mounted upon an X member movably mounted to an arm support so as to modulate the torch in a cross seam direction. The robotics tool carrier assembly mounts upon a robotics arm.

Robotics tool carrier assembly

A robotic welding system has a remote light pattern generator and a remotely located video camera and controller connected to an arc welding torch by flexible coherent fiber optic bundles. The improved torch has integral projection and viewing optical systems supported on the ring-shaped torch body. The first projects the light pattern onto the workpiece to measure workpiece profile and detect the joint location; the second produces an image of the weld puddle and light pattern for use as feedback information. The optical systems are tilted away from one another at a small angle corresponding to the angle of reflection to provide for optimum interception of the projected light pattern by the viewing optics.

Arc welding torch with two integral optical systems

A gas metal arc welding torch has an integral optical system which images the weld puddle on the face of a fiber optic cable. A concentric torch configuration is disclosed having a slim profile filler wire guide that is removably mounted on the ring-shaped torch body and projects into the gas cup at an angle to the optical axis to minimize obstruction of important regions of the weld scene. The fiber optic cable is coupled to a video camera and a viewing system or controller; real time observation of the weld area is made and used to control the weld process.

Gas metal arc welding torch with vision system

A gas tungsten arc welding torch has an integral optical system which images the weld puddle on the face of a fiber optic cable, and is suitable for industrial welding. The copper torch body has cover gas, electrical power, and coolant connections and an integral slim profile electrode holder. The optical lens is located directly above the electrode; the holder is out of focus and is not seen in the image of the weld region. A concentric torch configuration is more compact and has a large field of view at the weld area. When coupled to a remote video camera and monitor components, the torch-vision system permits control of torch manipulation and of the weld process.

Arc welding torch with integral vision sensor

A tool for a programmed assembly machine reliably dispenses nuts into sockets which in turn drive the nuts onto screws. The nuts rest on thin gate blades and loosely engage guide pins projecting up from the drive sockets. To dispense, the blades are pivoted by an actuator pin on the gripper to slide from under the nuts which fall by gravity onto the drive sockets, guided by the projecting pins. Other small apertured fastener parts such as washers can be dispensed by the tool.

Dispenser for screw fastener nuts

A robotic machine used in the automatic assembly of mechanical and electrical components is configured to assemble heavy parts at high speeds and is modular; there are one to four degrees of freedom. A motor assembly machine has X, Y, and Z movable axes and a rotational movement .theta. about the Z axis; a gripper or tool is mounted on the lower end of the .theta. axis. The vertical carriage has a rigid elongated housing which is the support structure for the .theta. axis components.

Robotic machine

An electromagnet on the gripper of an automatic assembly machine has a specially shaped pole piece structure with curved surfaces and flat surfaces, part of which are undercut in depth, to handle several different objects. Motor end bells and rotors in various orientations are picked up and transported during automatic assembly of small motors. There is quick release of light weight parts such as end bells.

Universal lifting magnet

Flat, stackable printing blades for use in an impact printer head of the dot-matrix type, each blade including a conductive coil fastened within a central aperture of a conductive frame having a pair of arms resiliently connecting the coil frame to a stationary mounting portion. The mounting portion and the coil-retaining frame are split, with one of a pair of coil leads attached to each of the pair of electrically-isolated blade members thus formed, for facilitating a flow of current from one portion of the mounting tab, through one resilient arm and the coil, and thence through the remaining resilient arm to the remaining portion of the mounting tab. A stack of blades, having printing tips extending from the frame in a common direction, is arrayed to form a dot-matrix-type printhead.

Split stackable printing blades for matrix printer head

A printer head for use in an impact printer of the dotmatrix type utilizes a stack of pivoted thin blades, each having a printing tip at one end thereof. A pancake coil is attached to each blade for initiating selective independent movement thereof within a common, externally-produced magnetic field to efficiently convert electrical print signals to kinetic energy in each printing tip of a vertical array thereof thereby facilitating printing of symbols, characters and other indicia on underlying media with high resolution. The single magnetic-field-producing means interacts with all pancake coils of the stack of printer blades to facilitate close spacing of the printing tips for superior character printing. Resilient members are integrally formed in each blade to support the moving structure with negligible loss, thereby increasing the printing speed of the stacked blade head.

Growing community of inventors

Schenectady, NY, United States of America

Donald C Peroutky