Gemcor Engineering Corp.

James J Birke

Bradley M Roberts

Kurt R Kubanek

Joseph A Dionne

Mark J Andrews

Robert J Kellner

David Michalewski

Steven Gross

Apparatus and method for positioning a wing panel or other member for riveting or conducting other operations thereon. The member is loaded at floor level on a plurality of hydraulic cylinders spaced over the length thereof and raised to a position for conducting the operations thereon. The hydraulic fluid flow to and from the hydraulic cylinders is controlled to synchronize the movements of the cylinder piston rods so that each of the piston rods bears its share of the load throughout raising and lowering of the member. The cylinders are also individually operated to accommodate passage of riveting machine heads or other tooling relative to the member.

Method for positioning a wing panel for riveting

Apparatus for positioning a wing panel for riveting

A method and apparatus (10) for fastening upper and lower workpieces (20, 22) without movement of the workpieces. The apparatus is provided with a frame having upper and lower portions (24.1, 24.2) carrying upper and lower riveting ram assemblies (26, 28), respectively. Each riveting ram assembly includes a buck ram (30 or 32), a buck ram moving assembly (62 or 90, 92), a pressure foot (34 or 36), a pressure foot moving assembly (38 or 40), a buck ram position measuring device (74 or 104), and a pressure foot position measuring device (78 or 108). The upper pressure foot moving assembly (38) further includes an upper pressure foot compensation cylinder assembly (42). The apparatus also includes a load cell (112) carried by one of the buck rams for sending a force signal in response to the force being applied to the fastener during upset and thereafter. A programmable process controller (82) is provided which is capable of having programmed into it the length of a fastener, and a deflection compensation table which sets forth the deflection of a portion of the frame during upset. The controller modulates sequential operation of the various moving assemblies during operation to move the buck rams and the pressure feet in response to signals received from the position measuring devices and the load cell in such a manner that the fastener may be upset while maintaining the upper surface (122) of the upper workpiece (20) in a desired workplane (124) even though one portion of the frame may deflect more than another portion of the frame.

Method and apparatus for fastening

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North Tonawanda, NY, United States of America

James J Birke