Metal working – Upholstered article making
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-19
2001-10-09
Bryant, David P. (Department: 3726)
Metal working
Upholstered article making
C029S091500, C029S235000, C029S713000, C074S089100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298532
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to methods and machines for assembling car seats and more particularly to machines for assembling a cover onto a padded seat frame.
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
There are several known machines for installing upholstery seat covers onto padded automobile seat frames. Such machines are commonly referred to as skinners by those skilled in the art. Some skinners operate vertically above an on-line conveyor which transports the seat through several stations, while other skinners are off-line or stand alone wherein seats are manually transported to the next assembly station.
One such prior skinner machine is disclosed in Fraiser, U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,427. Fraiser provides a carriage having a cluster of resilient cantilever arms that extend downward. In operation, an inside-out seat cover is slipped over the resilient arms. Then the carriage is translated towards a padded seat frame. The cantilever arms move along the outer of the padded seat frame causing the cover to be turned outside-out over the padded seat frame. A drawback with Fraiser is that it is unable to accommodate different sizes of seats. In particular, different models of vehicles have different sizes and shapes of seats which require different cover sizes. It is a disadvantage that this requires automotive manufacturers to have a different machine for each different size or shape of seat, and does not allow manufactures the flexibility to increase production of a certain size of seat that may be in short supply or inventory. This also can cause the skinner machine to become obsolete or require re-tooling if the particular seat size is discontinued by the automotive manufacturer. Another related problem is that the disclosed skinner machine of Fraiser can not be installed in an on-line seat assembly conveyor.
Another attempt at providing a skinner machine is disclosed in Mintz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,965. The skinner machine of Mintz includes self adjusting pneumatic actuators that drive four blades. At the beginning of the fitting cycle, the four blades are grouped close together so that a seat cover can be inserted inside-out on the blades. Then the blades are pneumatically actuated outward from one another to exert radially outward pressure on the seat cover. The seat cover counteracts the pneumatic force to stop the movement of the blades. Once the blades are stopped, a padded seat frame is driven towards the blades to skin the seat cover onto the padded seat frame outside-out. One very significant problem of Mintz is that the outward pressure on the seat covers causes an undesirable number of seat covers to pop or rip which results in wasted seat covers which in turn is very costly. Although Mintz et. al asserts to be adjustable for different sizes of seats by using pneumatic “self adjusting” actuators, the reality is that little if any adjustability is achieved and that a fixed sized seat cover and configuration is optimal for any given machine. Therefore, differently configured skinner machines are still necessary for different sizes of seat covers. Yet another problem of Mintz et. al is that the disclosed skinner can not be installed nor easily adapted to be installed in an on-line seat assembly conveyor. One last problem of Mintz is the quality of the skinned cover on the padded seat frame is low because the skinned cover on the seat usually has wrinkles and poor alignment which must be manually corrected, which is time-consuming and costly.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a machine for assembling a cover on a padded seat frame that overcomes these and other problems existing in the art.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable machine for assembling a cover on a padded seat frame that is more readily adjustable for multiple different sizes of seats.
It is another objective of the present invention to more precisely locate the cantilever arms of a machine for assembling a cover on a padded seat frame.
In accordance with these and other objective, the present invention provides a machine for assembling a cover on a padded seat frame that includes at least one actuated screw which drives the cantilever arms closer together or farther apart to a selected spacing for the desired size of seat cover. The screw precisely locates the cantilever arms to receive a selected size of seat cover.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a machine for installing seat covers on padded seat frames that is adjustable along several axes. The machine includes a frame that carries a carriage. A cluster of cantilever arms extend longitudinally away from the carriage in a Y axis. The cantilever arms are selectively spaced apart in X and Z axes for receiving a selected size of seat cover. A plurality of the cluster of arms can be selectively moved with respect to the carriage in at least one of the X and Z axes to a plurality of selected positions that correspond to a selected size of seat cover. The spacing between arms may be adjusted when it is desired to use a different size of seat cover by a selectively rotated screw. The machine further includes an actuator that facilitates reciprocating movement in the Y axis between the carriage and padded seat frames.
It is a feature of the present invention that the machine can be easily built for operation with an on-line conveyor or in operation as a stand alone.
It is an aspect of the present invention according to one embodiment that the carriage is movable with respect to the frame in the Z axis which allows the padded seat frame to be aligned with the cantilever arms when the cantilever arms have been moved. The machine may include an electrical actuator for selectively positioning the carriage in the Z axis.
It is another aspect of one embodiment that the carriage is rotatable about the Y axis with respect to the frame. This allows worker easier access to different sides of the seat to finish assembly of the seat cover on the padded seat frame. An appropriate rotary motor such as an electrical motor or pneumatic motor selectively positions the carriage in the desired angular position.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4385427 (1983-05-01), Fraiser
patent: 5774965 (1998-07-01), Mintz et al.
patent: 6000292 (1999-12-01), Nagai et al.
Bryant David P.
Hong John C.
Leydig , Voit & Mayer, Ltd.
LMS Walt, Inc.
LandOfFree
Seat assembly machine including selectively actuated screw... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Seat assembly machine including selectively actuated screw..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Seat assembly machine including selectively actuated screw... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2617109