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:
Dec. 31, 1996
Filed:
Apr. 01, 1993
Thomas Q Anderson, Seattle, WA (US);
Garth W Broadrick, Spokane, WA (US);
Merrill A Christianson, Puyallup, WA (US);
Daniel A Hippe, Auburn, WA (US);
Arthur T Hughes, Auburn, WA (US);
Jagdish C Kalyan, Bothell, WA (US);
Daniel L Nydegger, Auburn, WA (US);
Robert C Platt, Seattle, WA (US);
Karapurath Ramachandran, Maple Valley, WA (US);
The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
A workcell for making parts in a vertical orientation from rigid sheet material capable of self-support on edge includes a plurality of CNC machines for performing machining operations on said sheet material in a vertical orientation. The CNC machines receive machine control data from a cell controller which, in turn, receives nest order packages from a factory system. The parts data from which the factory system constructs the nest order packages comes from the original engineering parts definition in a central data storage system which is the ultimate parts design authority of the assembly for which the parts are to be made. The rigid sheet material is transferred in a vertical orientation to and between the CNC machines in at least one automated handling cart. The cart has a transfer mechanism for transferring sheets of the rigid sheet material on edge between the cart and the CNC machines. A motive mechanism is provided for driving the cart between the CNC machines under control of the cell controller, and for stopping the cart with its transfer mechanism in registry with the CNC machines.