The Boeing Company

Cna Manufacturing Systems, Inc.

Boeing Commercial Airplane Company

Mark S Soderberg

Horace E Hill

Richard L Benson

Robert A Starr

Albert L Hametner

Larry R Cook

Robert J Thomas

Jeffrey R Gueble

David E Strand

Philip A Rink

Frank L Gaunt

Joseph P Giamona

Herman F Leppink

A flexible tooling system includes a support table with multiple openings adapted to removably accept a self-contained actuator. Each opening of the support table provides vacuum and air supply lines as well as a bus interface so that each position may be uniquely addressed and commanded separately from any other openings. The self-contained actuator has corresponding connectors for receiving the vacuum and air supply as well as for interfacing with the bus. An actuator may be placed at a particular location by insertion into the receptacle at the opening in the support table aperture. The actuator may be commanded to raise, lower, lock in position and supply vacuum separate from any other actuator.

Flexible tooling method

Flexible tooling apparatus

An apparatus for holding a workpiece to a known position without regard to the angularity of the surface of the workpiece at the point of contact with the apparatus includes a disk shaped, substantially flat contact pad for engaging the workpiece. The surface of the contact pad opposite the workpiece is substantially spherical and fits in a conical seat so that the center point of the upper surface of the contact pad is always at an known position when the contact pad is seated, without regard to the angularity of the contact pad. A proximity detector determines when the contact pad is seated providing an indication to an operator that the workpiece is properly engaged by the apparatus. The contact pad is contained within the interior of a suction cup that engages the workpiece whereupon externally supplied vacuum pulls the suction cup and the workpiece together. A second embodiment employs the contact pad with an aperture therethrough so as to provide fluid communication to an air supply passing through the contact seat. The air supply provides an air bearing to enable a workpiece to be slid on a cushion of air.

End effector

A component pocket tape feeder system employs a registration mechanism to precisely position a component within a pocket tape just prior to retrieval of the component by a robotic assembly device. The registration mechanism precisely aligns the part thus enabling the robot to locate the part. The registration mechanism includes hold down and tamp apparatus for preventing tumbling of the part during alignment and an alignment mechanism which extends through apertures in the component tape to engage portions of the component and move the component, which was theretofore loosely held within the tape. The alignment mechanism is removable to allow other alignment mechanisms to be attached to the system to enable use with various components.

Pocket tape feeder system

A robotic work positioning system includes a programmed, powered robot, and a non-powered arm which is locatable at various positions in three dimensional space by means of the powered robot. A mating interconnection is provided on the non-powered arm whereby the non-powered arm may be accurately engaged and positioned by the powered robot for holding a part or workpiece at an accurately predetermined location. Together with the powered robot, the non-powered arm facilitates the accurate assembly of component parts. One or more non-powered arms can be used to generate three dimensional tooling which can be altered robotically.

Method for positioning a robotic work system

A robotic work positioning system includes programmed, powered robot, and a non-powered arm which is locatable at various positions in three dimensional space by means of the powered robot. A mating interconnection is provided on the non-powered arm whereby the non-powered arm may be accurately engaged and positioned by the powered robot for holding a part or workpiece at an accurately predetermined location. Together with the powered robot, the non-powered arm facilitates the accurate assembly of component parts. One or more non-powered arms can be used to generate three dimensional tooling which can be altered robotically.

Robotic work positioning system

Drills (35), vertically oriented in a row/column array in a drill block (31), are moved in the column direction across a slot (49) located at a loading station (41). As the drills in each partially or fully occupied row reach the slot and drop, drill block movement halts. Thereafter a vertically oriented turn-over tube (51) is moved in the row direction beneath the slot (49). When an occupied drill position is reached, the drill drops into the turn-over tube, tube row movement temporarily halts, and the tube is rotated. The drill slides out of the turn-over tube (51) and down the channel (59) of a measuring station (43) until it hits a movable stop (61). After drill diameter is measured by a pneumatically positioned LVDT (87) and overall drill length is measured by a pneumatically positioned linear potentiometer (69)/proximity detector (PX3) combination, the stop (61) is withdrawn and the drill enters a clamp (95), which grips the adapter shank of the drill. The clamp (95) and the drill are moved by an air-over-oil mechanism toward a prepositioned bushing (385) that deburrs the drill when the drill enters the bushing. Drill movement stops when the end of the flutes reach the bushing, at which time the clamp position is measured by a linear potentiometer (100). The overall drill length measurement and the clamp position measurement are combined to determine the length of the drill's flutes. After the clamp (95) returns to its pickup position the drill is dropped into a prepositioned rotatable tray (123) located at a sorting station (47). The tray and a fan-shaped diverter (125) direct the drill into the appropriate upper or lower bin (131, 133). Drills having diameters other than the diameters to be sorted are dropped into the prepositioned tray without being deburred and directed to a non-selected bin. Bent drills (determined by the drill ends impinging on the periphery of the bushing, rather than entering the bushing) and drills with unacceptably short flutes are directed to a reject drill bin. The various mechanisms are controlled by control signals produced by a CPU (501).

Automatic drill deburring and sorting machine

A quick-change drill chuck adapted for positioning ball elements within dimples circumferentially disposed about the central axis of the adapter portion of a tool, such as a drill, to drive the drill. A first quick-change drill chuck utilizes an axially spring-biased collar, while a further quick-change drill chuck incorporates a rotary spring-biased collar for manipulating the ball elements into and out of the dimples.

Motor quick-change chuck system for tool having cylindrically shaped

A method and apparatus for identifying and detecting the end of a wire segment in a computer controlled harness maker in which the wire is crimped twice in close proximity 90 degrees apart thereby forcing the wire next to the crimp to enlarge in size. The crimped wire is then pulled between two surfaces of the pinch mark detector which are spring loaded and rides at the nominal wire diameter until the crimp passes through the pinch mark detector depressing a plunger to activate a metal sensitive proximity switch providing an output signal representative of a pinch mark detect condition.

Wire pinch mark detector for use in method and apparatus for

A lubricator for an automatic riveter positions an absorbent pad containing a liquid lubricant in the path of the riveter's drill bit when the bit is being moved laterally. The absorbent pad is resiliently held to ensure contact between the pad and the drill bit. When drilling only, the pad is mounted at an angle to a cylinder and is driven back and forth by the cylinder to contact the drill bit and transfer lubricant.

Growing community of inventors

Issaquah, WA, United States of America

Mark S Soderberg