Flexible manufacturing system for the processing and production

Metal fusion bonding – With means to juxtapose and bond plural workpieces

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228 47, 901 7, 29563, 193 35R, 193 35SS, B23K 3700

Patent

active

047383879

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a national phase application corresponding to PCT/AT85/00641 filed Nov. 23, 1985 and based, in turn, upon a German national application No. P 3443076.8 filed Nov. 26, 1984 under the International Convention.


FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a flexible manufacturing system for the processing and production of multi-part subassemblies, in particular subassemblies of semi-finished vehicle bodies, in which a frame-shaped workpiece carrier with elements of subassemblies placed thereon, is fed to one or more work stations, which among themselves need not be arranged along an assembly line, where the individual work stations ahead of and after the work position, e.g. a welding station, have an input or an output station for the workpiece carrier, between which a linear transporter for the workpiece carriers operates.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

From U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,947 it is known that the customary assembly line, which is characterized by a straight-through transfer line, and can be broken up individual work stations arranged side by side. The workpiece elements to be connected and welded together are first retained by a workpiece carrier, which is guided into the input station of the pertinent work station along a prepared guide path by a suitable transport device. From there, the workpiece carrier arrives at a work position where, by means of industrial robots, welding in the sense of tacking or finish welding is carried out. By means of switches, the correlation of the guided work piece carrier with a given work position among several lying side by side can be controlled.
Although the above teaching permits the flexible completion of semi-finished vehicle bodies, the equipment required is considerable, the floor space requirements are extensive, and the transportation of the workpieces involves problems.


OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the invention to provide the individual work stations in such manner that the necessary operations can be carried out independently from the operational readiness of other work stations belonging to a common group. Furthermore it is an object to develop further the adaptability of the various work stations to different manufacturing steps in the presence of changing subassemblies.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,947 as a starting point, the essence of the invention is that in addition to the input and output stations additional storage stations are provided which are connected with the input and output stations lying between them by a transport system for the workpiece carriers crossing the linear transporter.
In this manner, it is achieved, to start with, that the workpiece carriers need not be run into the input stations and out of the output stations along the transfer line. This shortens the working length of a given work station considerably. By placing the storage stations next to the input and output stations, a condition is created whereby the workpiece carrier can be fed and removed transversely to the transfer line and, in addition, can be stored. The invention permits the use of floorbound transport vehicles which, guided inductively, can be moved between the various work stations, storage stations etc.
Such transport vehicles are known for flexibly automated production layouts e.g. for the purpose of transporting metallic pallets with workpieces fastened thereon between pallet change stations of machine tools (VDI Journal 121; 1979; p. 83-95). This concerns comparatively small workpieces, which does not immediately suggest the manufacture of semi-finished vehicle bodies in similar manner.
A considerable increase of the flexibility of the manufacturing system according to the invention is attained when the workpiece carrier has a spacing and centering means by which the workpiece carriers with their subassembly components can be stacked. For this purpose it is advisable to provide in the corners of the work piece carriers vertical locating

REFERENCES:
patent: 2613798 (1952-10-01), McPhee
patent: 3796327 (1974-03-01), Meyer et al.
patent: 4256947 (1981-03-01), De Candie
patent: 4359305 (1982-11-01), Young et al.
patent: 4583634 (1986-04-01), Kraus et al.
patent: 4642014 (1987-02-01), Saarinen

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