The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 05, 1991
Filed:
Jul. 29, 1988
Everett E Jones, Wichita, KS (US);
Albert G Gaspar, Hebron, CT (US);
The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for fabricating sheet metal parts using workpiece manipulators to transfer a workpiece from one work station to another and position the workpiece for each operation to be performed. The invention eliminates the need of individual operators and can be managed under microprocessor control using known positions along selected X and Y axes about which programming is performed. A unified design and manufacturing system includes a computer-aided design (CAD) system and a microprocessor-controlled fabrication system consisting of a plurality of manufacturing stations which perform manufacturing and transporting operations upon a workpiece. Design information for a part is entered through the CAD system and includes a reference point. The design information is combined with manufacturing process planning information to produce a part definition data file which is used by the microprocessor-controlled fabrication system to perform machine operations upon a workpiece to produce the part according to the design information. In the microprocessor-controlled fabrication system, the reference point, as entered in the CAD system, is associated with a specific point upon the workpiece. During all times, the manufacturing stations maintain a known orientation between the specified location on the workpiece and axes of the microprocessor-controlled fabrication system.