Unova IP Corp.

Litton Industrial Automation Systems, Inc.

Lamb Assembly and Test, LLC

Orrin Pierce Beggs

Lane Matthew Johnson

Jeffery Wayne Berg

Herbert Meyer

The effects of an air bearing may be augmented in various ways in order to assist in the automated assembly of valve spools into valve bores. Such augmentation may be achieved by agitating one end of the valve spool with sequentially applied pulses of pressurized air as the spool is being lowered into the valve body, increasing the effective length of the valve spool so that the agitation can be applied to the spool when the spool is partially inserted into the body, varying the position of the valve spool while the spool is being inserted into the valve body to expose a length of the spool to the pulses of pressurized air, and applying an oscillating vibration to the fixture that supports the valve body to dislodge a spool that has become jammed in the valve bore.

Spool valve assembly apparatus using air vortex insertion

A connecting rod is cracked by mounting it on a fixture having a split mandrel and driving a pair of opposed wedges between the mandrel halves. The fixture is mounted on a support and is transported by a conveyor through a series of stations where the rod is split, separated into two pieces, the crack zone is cleaned, and the pieces are reunited along the crack lines. The use of two opposed wedges cancels out the horizontal forces of the wedges and results in a vertical force that cracks the rod. The fixture floats relative to the support allowing the connecting rod to be centered relative to the wedges. A break limiter limits the displacement of the first side of the rod to crack to prevent distortion of the second side before it cracks. In the event the fixture malfunctions, the entire fixture is removed from the conveyor and replaced by another fixture, thus reducing downtime.

Connecting rod cracking apparatus

An apparatus for press fitting inserts into corresponding receptacles in workpieces includes a press comprising a ram and a backup tool spaced from the ram. An insertion tool is alignable between the ram and the backup tool. An insert magazine feeds inserts to the insertion tool. A workpiece positioner sequentially moves each workpiece through receiving positions that align the receptacles with the insertion tool between the ram and the backup tool. The ram repeatedly engages the insertion tool to press fit an insert into each of the corresponding receptacles. The backup tool supports the workpiece against the force of press-fit insertion.

Seat and guide installation method

Seat and guide installation method and apparatus

A workpiece holder for a press tool has a mounting ring which carries a circular retainer ring for frictionally engaging the inside of the workpiece and has a non-planar or curved end face engaged with a complimentary shaped end face of a body of the pressing tool to permit relative angular movement between the mounting ring and pressing tool body. This permits the axis of the mounting ring and hence, the axis of the workpiece carried by the mounting ring, to be angularly inclined relative to the axis of the pressing tool body to permit substantially coaxial insertion of the workpiece into a bore of a body even when the axis of the pressing tool body is angularly offset or skewed relative to the axis of the bore.

Workpiece insertion tool with angular compliance

A cylinder head flow test apparatus and method for testing cylinder heads for blockages in water passages wherein blockages in the water passages contained in the cylinder head can be detected by blowing low pressure air at a high velocity into the water passages and measuring the resulting back pressure produced by restrictions within the water passages. The disclosed method and apparatus include means for selectively testing the water passages in a cylinder head and for comparing the back pressure readings obtained from the test to back pressure readings previously obtained from a cylinder head whose water passages are known to have no blockages. An apparatus and method also disclosed for simultaneously testing all water passages in a cylinder head for blockages.

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Belvidere, IL, United States of America

Orrin Pierce Beggs