Gemcor Engineering Corp.

General Electro-mechanical Corporation

John W Davern

Mark J Andrews

Thomas H Speller, Sr

Jeffrey P Weaver

Joseph Vargo, Jr

Daniel D Cook

Jeffery P Weaver

Frank T Mazurik

Riveting apparatus for operation on a workpiece having opposite sides and supported vertically on a horizontal surface comprising a frame having a pair of spaced apart sides movable along the supporting surface and straddling the workpiece, first and second carriages movably mounted on respective sides of the frame and riveting tools on first and second heads on the first and second carriages, respectively, the tools being movable toward and away from the workpiece. The frame travels in a first direction along the supporting surface and along the workpiece, the first and second carriages are movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction and toward and away from the supporting surface, and the frame is movable in a third direction transverse to the first direction and toward and away from the workpiece. The first and second heads are movable independently about axes substantially parallel to the first direction and to the supporting surface, and both heads are movable independently about axes substantially perpendicular to the first direction and to the supporting surface.

Five axis riveter and system

Riveting apparatus for operation on a workpiece having opposite sides and supported vertically on a horizontal surface comprising a frame having a pair of spaced apart sides movable along the supporting surface and straddling the workpiece, first and second carriages movably mounted on respective sides of the frame and riveting tools on first and second heads on the first and second carriages, respectively, the tools being movable toward and away from the workpiece. The frame travels in a first direction along the supporting surface and along the workpiece, the first and second carriages are movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction and toward and away from the supporting surface, and the frame is movable in a third direction transverse to the first direction and toward and away from the workpiece. The first and second heads are movable independently about axes substantially parallel to the first direction and to the supporting surface, and both heads are movable independently about axes substantially perpendicular to the first direction and to the supporting surface. The workpiece is supported by a fixture extending along the path of travel of the apparatus and the fixture is supported at spaced locations therealong above the supporting surface by retractable supports separately movable away from the fixture to provide clearance space between the fixture and the supporting surface for travel of a base of the machine. In a riveting system wherein a plurality of such workpieces are supported vertically on a horizontal surface and arranged in spaced apart parallel rows, there is provided a shuttle carriage extending transverse to the workpiece paths and intersecting the paths for receiving the riveting apparatus and transferring it to any of the other workpiece paths in a manner maintaining the same orientation of the apparatus about a vertical axis during the transfer.

Five axis riveter

Method and apparatus for inserting fasteners into holes in a workpiece. The apparatus includes a finger carrying device which is carried by an anvil for telescoping movement relative to the anvil, the finger carrying device includes a bore coaxial with the anvil and through which the anvil may pass as it moves from a raised position to a lowered position. The finger carrying device is provided with a side port through which fasteners may be inserted by a gravity injector, the side port being disposed below the anvil when it is in its raised position. A plurality of annular arrays of resilient fingers are mounted in the bore below the side port. A fastener, after being injected into the bore of the finger carrying device, is pushed by the anvil through the fingers as the anvil moves to its lowered position, the annular arrays of resilient fingers properly orienting the fastener in coaxial alignment with the anvil and with a hole in a workpiece.

Method and apparatus for inserting fasteners

An automatic drilling and riveting machine comprising a frame having a main body portion and having a front end portion disposed in a first plane, means for defining a drilling and riveting axis in the frame closely adjacent and substantially parallel to the first plane, and a ram and clamp assembly carried by the frame for holding a workpiece relative to the frame in a second plane substantially perpendicular to the first plane during drilling and riveting and for applying force for heading a rivet inserted in the workpiece. A transfer assembly carried by the frame main body portion selectively moves a drilling means and a rivet inserting and forming means each into and out of positional alignment with the drilling and riveting axis and when in such alignment toward and away from the workpiece for drilling a rivet-receiving hole in the workpiece and for inserting a rivet in the hole and forming a head on the inserted rivet in co-operation with the holding and force applying means. A rivet receiving and holding means receives rivet blanks from a supply tube and maintains them in a predetermined orientation for subsequent injection into the rivet inserting and forming means independent of the orientation of the machine.

Riveting machine

Air pressure means for maintaining rivets in axial alignment as they pass through a feed tube to a riveting machine. The air pressure means comprises a circumferentially spaced series of air discharge passages directed obliquely toward the axis of the feed tube and in the direction of travel of the rivets whereby a conical pattern of air pressure is directed against the shanks of the rivets to urge them into axial alignment in the feed tube.

Jet guide rivet injector

The invention relates to slug riveting apparatus wherein a pair of opposed rivet head forming anvils move relatively toward each other to form heads at the opposite ends of a cylindrical rivet blank, more or less simultaneously, after the blank has been inserted in the workpieces. An annular elastomeric polyurethane member is associated coaxially with one of the rivet head forming anvils and has a bore for receiving and resiliently gripping a cylindrical rivet blank. The elastomeric annular member holds the blank during insertion of the blank in the workpieces as the anvils move relatively toward each other, and the rivet blank is moved out of engagement with the elastomeric annular member by the associated head forming anvil during the head forming operation by resilient radial expansion of the elastomeric annular member. The rivet forming anvils have flat bottomed head forming recesses with sloping side walls. The flat bottoms of the recesses are of substantially the same diameter as the ends of the rivet blanks or slugs to retain the latter in an accurately centered coaxial position with respect to the head forming anvils throughout the slug insertion and the head forming operations.

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North Tonawanda, NY, United States of America

John W Davern