US20030000804A1 - Soft touch lifter - Google Patents
Soft touch lifter Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20030000804A1 US20030000804A1 US09/895,901 US89590101A US2003000804A1 US 20030000804 A1 US20030000804 A1 US 20030000804A1 US 89590101 A US89590101 A US 89590101A US 2003000804 A1 US2003000804 A1 US 2003000804A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- lift
- skid
- assembly
- frame
- tooling
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66F—HOISTING, LIFTING, HAULING OR PUSHING, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, e.g. DEVICES WHICH APPLY A LIFTING OR PUSHING FORCE DIRECTLY TO THE SURFACE OF A LOAD
- B66F7/00—Lifting frames, e.g. for lifting vehicles; Platform lifts
- B66F7/02—Lifting frames, e.g. for lifting vehicles; Platform lifts with platforms suspended from ropes, cables, or chains or screws and movable along pillars
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B62—LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
- B62D—MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS
- B62D65/00—Designing, manufacturing, e.g. assembling, facilitating disassembly, or structurally modifying motor vehicles or trailers, not otherwise provided for
- B62D65/02—Joining sub-units or components to, or positioning sub-units or components with respect to, body shell or other sub-units or components
Definitions
- the present invention relates generally to a “soft touch” lifter for automotive Body in White geometry stations like framing stations.
- the skid together with the automotive body components supported by the skid is moved to a geometry station.
- Automotive tooling is provided at the geometry station, and a part of the tooling is initially positioned beneath the skid as the skid is moved into this geometry station.
- This underbody tooling typically includes a plurality of locators which register with receptors, such as locating holes, and N.C. blocks and clamps unit locating the outer surface of the body component.
- the underbody tooling is generally movable at the geometry station between a lower and an upper position.
- the locators engage the receptors in the automotive underbody components and slightly elevate the automotive body components upwardly from the skid to the geometry position. Since the position of the tooling locators is fixed relative to the receptors, the tooling accurately positions the automotive body components relative to each other at the geometry position. With the automotive body components accurately positioned relative to each other, the body components are secured together by any conventional means, such as welding, clinching, or the like.
- the underbody tooling is first accelerated from a position largely beneath the skid and towards the automotive body components to deeply engage tooling into underbody cavities.
- the tooling In order to prevent damage to the automotive body components which would otherwise be caused by a rapid impact of the tooling against the body components, the tooling must be decelerated prior to contacting the body components so that only a “soft” impact occurs between the tooling and the body components.
- Such acceleration, deceleration, reacceleration and final deceleration of the tooling even if performed by a CAME system or an epicycloidal gear box, appreciably increases the overall cycle time for the framing system. This is particularly true, since the underbody tooling together with its movable support frame typically weighs several thousand pounds.
- the present invention provides a “soft touch” lifter for an automotive Body in White geometry station which overcomes all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known devices.
- the automotive body components are supported by a skid prior to welding of the body components together.
- the skid itself is conveyed by any conventional conveyor system, such as a roller conveyor system, such that the skid together with its supported body components are introduced in a geometry station having a stationary base.
- a pair of lift frames is vertically slidably mounted to the base at the geometry station so that the lift frame is movable between a first position and a second position. At its first position, the lift frame is largely positioned beneath the skid at the assembly station while, conversely, in its second position, the lift frame is moved to an elevated position relative to its first position.
- Conventional underbody tooling is secured to the lift frame so that the underbody tooling moves in unison with the lift frame.
- Such tooling typically includes a plurality of locators which register with receptors, typically locating holes formed in the body components.
- the locators engage their corresponding receptors and elevate the body components toward the upper tooling, and slightly away from the skid, the set of tooling precisely locates the body components relative to each other.
- the body components are then secured together in any conventional fashion, such as by welding.
- the lifter system of the present invention includes a pair of lift arms with one lift arm being vertically slidably mounted to the base frame at each end of the lift frame. These lift arms are thus movable between a lower position and an upper position. Furthermore, the lift arms register with the skid so that, as the lift arms are moved from their lower and to their upper position, the lift arms engage and elevate the skid together with the body components supported on the skid.
- an elongated belt drivingly connects each lift arm with the lift frame.
- These elongated belts ensure that the lift arms move in synchronism with the lift frame.
- the elongated belts move the lift arms from their lower and to their upper position at a speed one-half the speed of movement of the lift frame from its first and to its second position.
- the underbody tooling finally engages the automotive underbody and slightly elevates the automotive body components up from the skid at the very end of the upward stroke or upward movement of the lift arm and the lift frame.
- FIG. 1 is an elevational view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention installed inside of an automotive body framing station
- FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the preferred embodiment of the present invention installed inside of an automotive body framing station
- FIG. 3 is an exploded fragmentary view illustrating the lifting arm assembly of the present invention with its belt actuator shown separately;
- FIGS. 4 - 6 are fragmentary side views illustrating the operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in retracted (down) and extended (up) positions;
- FIGS. 7 and 8 are side views of the lifting arm assemblies illustrated in different operational positions and incidental event situations.
- FIG. 1 an elevational view of an automotive framing system 10 including a soft touch lifter of the present invention is illustrated.
- a skid 12 supports two or more automotive body components 14 , 15 which are either not attached together or only loosely attached together. These automotive body components 14 , 15 are supported on the upper surface of the skid 12 .
- the skid 12 together with its supported body components 14 , 15 , is transported by any conventional means, such as a roller conveyor system 16 (illustrated diagrammatically) to a geometry station 18 .
- the geometry station 18 includes a base 20 which is fixed relative to a ground support surface.
- a lift frame 22 is vertically slidably mounted to the base 20 and movable between a lower position, illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 , and an upper position, illustrated in FIG. 6.
- an automotive underbody tooling assembly 24 is secured to the lift frame 22 so that the underbody tooling 24 moves in unison with the lift frame 22 .
- the tooling 24 includes a plurality of locators 26 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 6 ) which register with receptors 28 (illustrated only diagrammatically in FIGS. 2 and 6) in the automotive body components 14 .
- These receptors 28 typically comprise locating holes formed in the automotive body components 14 . Consequently, with the tooling locators 26 positioned within their associated receptors 28 on the automotive body components 14 as shown in FIG. 6, the automotive underbody 15 is precisely positioned. With the automotive underbody 15 thus positioned, the other body components 14 will be located by upper tooling 17 before being secured together in any conventional fashion, such as by welding.
- both the lift frame 22 and tooling 24 is positioned beneath the skid 12 when the skid 12 is introduced in the geometry station 18 .
- the lift frame 22 is vertically slidably mounted to the base 20 and movable to a second elevated position (FIG. 6) in which the tooling 24 engages the underbody components 15 in the previously described fashion thus supporting the body components 14 at an assembly position illustrated in FIG. 6.
- Any conventional means, such as hydraulic actuators, electric actuators, or the like 30 are used to move the lift frame 22 from its first position (FIG. 1) and to its second position (FIG. 6).
- Each lift arm 32 is supported by the base 20 so that the lift arms are positioned at opposite ends of the assembly station 18 (see FIG. 2).
- Each lift arm 32 is generally T-shaped thus having a vertical leg 34 and an upper crossbeam 36 .
- the lift arms 32 are vertically slidably mounted to the base 20 and movable between a lower position, illustrated in FIG. 4, and an upper position, illustrated in FIG. 6 via an intermediate situation illustrated in FIG. 5.
- a plurality of “Ve Rollers” 38 are rotatably mounted to the base 20 and engage opposite sides of the vertical leg 34 of the lift arm 32 .
- a first roller 40 is rotatably secured to the top of the lift arm 32 while, similarly, a second roller 42 is rotatably secured to the bottom of the vertical leg 34 .
- the rollers 40 and 42 are preferably aligned with the center leg 34 .
- An elongated belt 46 is disposed around the rollers 40 and 42 and a mid-portion of the belt 46 is secured to the base 20 by a retaining block 48 .
- the retaining block 48 thus fixes a mid-portion of the belt 46 against vertical movement relative to the base.
- the free ends of the belt 46 are secured to the lift frame 22 through a retainer assembly 50 .
- the retainer assembly 50 preferably comprises a pivot plate 52 which is pivotally mounted to the lift frame 22 by a pivot bar 54 .
- a pair of spring retainers 56 (only one illustrated) urge the plate 52 up to the position shown in FIG. 7 while a pair of tensioning springs 58 provide longitudinal tensioning on the upper loop of the belt 46 .
- the belt 46 is wrapped around a stationary roller 60 mounted to the pivot plate 52 so that, during normal operation of the lift arm 32 , the overall length of the band 46 , i.e. the length from the retainer assembly 50 and around both the top and the 5 bottom of the lift arm 32 , is generally fixed.
- the longitudinal length of the band 46 from the retainer assembly 50 and around the top roller 40 to the retaining block 48 is substantially the same as the longitudinal length of the belt 46 from the retainer assembly 50 , around the bottom roller 42 and to the retaining block 48 .
- the band 46 together with the retaining block 48 and retainer assembly 50 drivingly connects the lift arm 32 and lift frame 22 together so that both the lift frame 22 and lift arms 32 move in synchronism with each other.
- the vertical speed of the lift arm 32 is one-half the vertical speed of the lift frame 22 .
- the lift arms 32 engage the skid 12 and move the skid 12 upward together with its supported body components 14 , 15 in unison with the upward movement of the lift frame 22 with its tooling 24 .
- the upward speed and stroke of the lift arms 32 is one-half the speed and stroke of upward movement of the lift frame 22 .
- the lift arms 32 are movable from a lower position (FIG. 4) to an upper position (FIG. 6) in synchronism with the movement of the lift frame 22 from its lower position (FIG. 4) to its second or upper position (FIG. 6). Furthermore, as both the lift arms 32 and lift frame 22 near their intermediate position as shown in FIG. 5, the tooling 24 starts to engage the underbody 15 . Consequently, as the lift frame 22 attains its second position and the lift arms 32 attain their uppermost position (FIG.
- the tooling 24 not only engages the underbody 15 but elevates the body components 14 , 15 above the skid 12 thus accurately positioning the underbody 15 in preparation for accurate positioning of the other body components 14 by the upper tooling 17 , prior to securement of the body components to each other.
- the lift frame is returned to its first or lower position thus automatically moving the lift arms 32 to their lower position and returning not only the automotive body components 14 , 15 to the skid 12 , but the skid 12 to the roller conveyor system 16 .
- the skid 12 with the now assembled body components 14 , 15 is transported by the conveyor 16 for further processing while a new skid 12 supporting its unattached body components is moved into the assembly station 18 where the above process is repeated.
- An important advantage of the present invention is that, since the skid is elevated from its lower and to its upper position at one half the speed and stroke of the lift frame 22 containing the tooling 24 , the speed of impact of the tooling 24 against the underbody 15 is effectively reduced by the upward speed of the lift arms 32 , and because the impact occurs also at the end of the stroke rather than at the middle. This, in turn, eliminates the previously known necessity of decelerating the lift frame in the middle of its stroke prior to the impact of the tooling against the underbody components 14 . By eliminating the previously known necessity of decelerating the lift frame prior to impact of the tooling against the underbody 15 , the cycle time of the framing station of the present invention is effectively reduced.
- the synchronism between the lifting arms 32 and lift frame 22 may be disrupted. Such disrupting can occur on either the upward or downward stroke of the lift frame 22 and lift arm 32 .
- the present invention provides a novel lift assembly for an automotive framing system which is not only simple in construction, but effective in use.
- a primary advantage of the present invention is that it reduces the overall cycle time for the geometry station like a framing station.
Abstract
Description
- I. Field of the Invention
- The present invention relates generally to a “soft touch” lifter for automotive Body in White geometry stations like framing stations.
- II. Description of Related Art
- In automotive Body in White geometry stations, automotive bodies in which the automotive body components have not been initially fixedly secured together, typically by welding, are supported on a skid. The skid, in turn, is moved by a conveyor system such as a roller table or belt conveyor along the conveyor line.
- In order to form the final geometry and secure the automotive body components together, the skid together with the automotive body components supported by the skid is moved to a geometry station. Automotive tooling is provided at the geometry station, and a part of the tooling is initially positioned beneath the skid as the skid is moved into this geometry station. This underbody tooling typically includes a plurality of locators which register with receptors, such as locating holes, and N.C. blocks and clamps unit locating the outer surface of the body component.
- The underbody tooling is generally movable at the geometry station between a lower and an upper position. In its upper position, the locators engage the receptors in the automotive underbody components and slightly elevate the automotive body components upwardly from the skid to the geometry position. Since the position of the tooling locators is fixed relative to the receptors, the tooling accurately positions the automotive body components relative to each other at the geometry position. With the automotive body components accurately positioned relative to each other, the body components are secured together by any conventional means, such as welding, clinching, or the like.
- One disadvantage of these previously known lifter for automotive Body in White geometry systems is that the cycle time for elevating the automotive body components above the skid and to the final geometry position by the machine tools is rather prolonged thus increasing the overall cycle time of the automotive production line. This protracted time to first engage the underbody tooling, then to elevate the automotive body components to the geometry position in contact with upper tooling, since the tooling used to elevate the body components to the assembly position must undergo a double acceleration/deceleration cycle.
- More specifically, with the skid positioned at the geometry station, the underbody tooling is first accelerated from a position largely beneath the skid and towards the automotive body components to deeply engage tooling into underbody cavities. In order to prevent damage to the automotive body components which would otherwise be caused by a rapid impact of the tooling against the body components, the tooling must be decelerated prior to contacting the body components so that only a “soft” impact occurs between the tooling and the body components.
- Following the soft impact of the tooling against the body components, the tooling is again reaccelerated thus elevating the body components up to the contact of the upper tooling, creating at the end of the stroke a slight clearance between the body and skid.
- Such acceleration, deceleration, reacceleration and final deceleration of the tooling, even if performed by a CAME system or an epicycloidal gear box, appreciably increases the overall cycle time for the framing system. This is particularly true, since the underbody tooling together with its movable support frame typically weighs several thousand pounds.
- The present invention provides a “soft touch” lifter for an automotive Body in White geometry station which overcomes all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known devices.
- In brief, as in the previously known devices, the automotive body components are supported by a skid prior to welding of the body components together. The skid itself is conveyed by any conventional conveyor system, such as a roller conveyor system, such that the skid together with its supported body components are introduced in a geometry station having a stationary base.
- A pair of lift frames is vertically slidably mounted to the base at the geometry station so that the lift frame is movable between a first position and a second position. At its first position, the lift frame is largely positioned beneath the skid at the assembly station while, conversely, in its second position, the lift frame is moved to an elevated position relative to its first position.
- Conventional underbody tooling is secured to the lift frame so that the underbody tooling moves in unison with the lift frame. Such tooling typically includes a plurality of locators which register with receptors, typically locating holes formed in the body components. Thus, as the locators engage their corresponding receptors and elevate the body components toward the upper tooling, and slightly away from the skid, the set of tooling precisely locates the body components relative to each other. The body components are then secured together in any conventional fashion, such as by welding.
- Unlike the previously known lifters for geometry stations like framing systems, however, the lifter system of the present invention includes a pair of lift arms with one lift arm being vertically slidably mounted to the base frame at each end of the lift frame. These lift arms are thus movable between a lower position and an upper position. Furthermore, the lift arms register with the skid so that, as the lift arms are moved from their lower and to their upper position, the lift arms engage and elevate the skid together with the body components supported on the skid.
- In the preferred embodiment of the invention, an elongated belt drivingly connects each lift arm with the lift frame. These elongated belts ensure that the lift arms move in synchronism with the lift frame. Just as importantly, however, is that the elongated belts move the lift arms from their lower and to their upper position at a speed one-half the speed of movement of the lift frame from its first and to its second position. Furthermore, as the lift frame approaches its second position and the lift arms simultaneously approach their upper position, the underbody tooling finally engages the automotive underbody and slightly elevates the automotive body components up from the skid at the very end of the upward stroke or upward movement of the lift arm and the lift frame.
- Since the lift arms simultaneously move the skid in an upward direction prior to impact of the underbody tooling upon the automotive body components at the end of the stroke, the speed of impact of the tooling against the automotive body components is effectively reduced by the upward speed of the lift arms and thus of the skid. Consequently, unlike the previously known framing systems, the present system eliminates the need to decelerate the tooling in the middle of its stroke prior to impact against the automotive body components.
- A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which:
- FIG. 1 is an elevational view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention installed inside of an automotive body framing station;
- FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the preferred embodiment of the present invention installed inside of an automotive body framing station;
- FIG. 3 is an exploded fragmentary view illustrating the lifting arm assembly of the present invention with its belt actuator shown separately;
- FIGS.4-6 are fragmentary side views illustrating the operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in retracted (down) and extended (up) positions; and
- FIGS. 7 and 8 are side views of the lifting arm assemblies illustrated in different operational positions and incidental event situations.
- With reference first to FIG. 1, an elevational view of an
automotive framing system 10 including a soft touch lifter of the present invention is illustrated. In the conventional fashion, askid 12 supports two or moreautomotive body components automotive body components skid 12. Theskid 12, together with its supportedbody components geometry station 18. - With reference now to FIGS. 1, 2 and4-6, the
geometry station 18 includes abase 20 which is fixed relative to a ground support surface. Alift frame 22 is vertically slidably mounted to thebase 20 and movable between a lower position, illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, and an upper position, illustrated in FIG. 6. In the conventional fashion, an automotiveunderbody tooling assembly 24 is secured to thelift frame 22 so that theunderbody tooling 24 moves in unison with thelift frame 22. Thetooling 24 includes a plurality of locators 26 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 6) which register with receptors 28 (illustrated only diagrammatically in FIGS. 2 and 6) in theautomotive body components 14. Thesereceptors 28 typically comprise locating holes formed in theautomotive body components 14. Consequently, with thetooling locators 26 positioned within their associatedreceptors 28 on theautomotive body components 14 as shown in FIG. 6, theautomotive underbody 15 is precisely positioned. With theautomotive underbody 15 thus positioned, theother body components 14 will be located byupper tooling 17 before being secured together in any conventional fashion, such as by welding. - Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, with the
lift frame 22 positioned in a first or lower position, both thelift frame 22 andtooling 24 is positioned beneath theskid 12 when theskid 12 is introduced in thegeometry station 18. Thelift frame 22 is vertically slidably mounted to thebase 20 and movable to a second elevated position (FIG. 6) in which thetooling 24 engages theunderbody components 15 in the previously described fashion thus supporting thebody components 14 at an assembly position illustrated in FIG. 6. Any conventional means, such as hydraulic actuators, electric actuators, or the like 30 are used to move thelift frame 22 from its first position (FIG. 1) and to its second position (FIG. 6). - With reference now to FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of
lift arms 32 are supported by thebase 20 so that the lift arms are positioned at opposite ends of the assembly station 18 (see FIG. 2). Eachlift arm 32 is generally T-shaped thus having avertical leg 34 and anupper crossbeam 36. - The
lift arms 32 are vertically slidably mounted to thebase 20 and movable between a lower position, illustrated in FIG. 4, and an upper position, illustrated in FIG. 6 via an intermediate situation illustrated in FIG. 5. Although any conventional means may be used to vertically slidably mount thelift arms 32 to thebase 20, in the preferred embodiment a plurality of “Ve Rollers” 38 are rotatably mounted to thebase 20 and engage opposite sides of thevertical leg 34 of thelift arm 32. - Still referring to FIGS. 3, 7 and8, in order to move the
lift arm 32 between its lower and upper positions, afirst roller 40 is rotatably secured to the top of thelift arm 32 while, similarly, asecond roller 42 is rotatably secured to the bottom of thevertical leg 34. Therollers center leg 34. - An
elongated belt 46 is disposed around therollers belt 46 is secured to thebase 20 by a retainingblock 48. The retainingblock 48 thus fixes a mid-portion of thebelt 46 against vertical movement relative to the base. - The free ends of the
belt 46 are secured to thelift frame 22 through aretainer assembly 50. Theretainer assembly 50 preferably comprises apivot plate 52 which is pivotally mounted to thelift frame 22 by apivot bar 54. A pair of spring retainers 56 (only one illustrated) urge theplate 52 up to the position shown in FIG. 7 while a pair of tensioning springs 58 provide longitudinal tensioning on the upper loop of thebelt 46. Thebelt 46, however, is wrapped around astationary roller 60 mounted to thepivot plate 52 so that, during normal operation of thelift arm 32, the overall length of theband 46, i.e. the length from theretainer assembly 50 and around both the top and the 5 bottom of thelift arm 32, is generally fixed. Furthermore, the longitudinal length of theband 46 from theretainer assembly 50 and around thetop roller 40 to the retainingblock 48 is substantially the same as the longitudinal length of thebelt 46 from theretainer assembly 50, around thebottom roller 42 and to the retainingblock 48. - With reference now to FIGS. 7 and 8, the
band 46 together with the retainingblock 48 andretainer assembly 50 drivingly connects thelift arm 32 andlift frame 22 together so that both thelift frame 22 and liftarms 32 move in synchronism with each other. However, the vertical speed of thelift arm 32 is one-half the vertical speed of thelift frame 22. - With reference now to FIGS.4-6, the operation of the system of the present invention will now be described. With the
skid 12 supporting itsautomotive body components assembly station 18, the opposite ends of the horizontal supports 36 of thelift arms 32 are positioned beneath theskid 12 as shown in FIG. 4. Consequently, onelift arm 32 is aligned with the front end of theskid 12 while theother lift arm 32 is aligned with the rear end of theskid 12. - As the
lift frame 22 begins to move from its first and to its second position as shown in FIG. 5, thelift arms 32 engage theskid 12 and move theskid 12 upward together with its supportedbody components lift frame 22 with itstooling 24. However, as previously described, the upward speed and stroke of thelift arms 32 is one-half the speed and stroke of upward movement of thelift frame 22. - The
lift arms 32 are movable from a lower position (FIG. 4) to an upper position (FIG. 6) in synchronism with the movement of thelift frame 22 from its lower position (FIG. 4) to its second or upper position (FIG. 6). Furthermore, as both thelift arms 32 andlift frame 22 near their intermediate position as shown in FIG. 5, thetooling 24 starts to engage theunderbody 15. Consequently, as thelift frame 22 attains its second position and thelift arms 32 attain their uppermost position (FIG. 6), thetooling 24 not only engages theunderbody 15 but elevates thebody components skid 12 thus accurately positioning theunderbody 15 in preparation for accurate positioning of theother body components 14 by theupper tooling 17, prior to securement of the body components to each other. After the body components are secured together, typically by welding, the lift frame is returned to its first or lower position thus automatically moving thelift arms 32 to their lower position and returning not only theautomotive body components skid 12, but theskid 12 to theroller conveyor system 16. Theskid 12 with the now assembledbody components conveyor 16 for further processing while anew skid 12 supporting its unattached body components is moved into theassembly station 18 where the above process is repeated. - An important advantage of the present invention is that, since the skid is elevated from its lower and to its upper position at one half the speed and stroke of the
lift frame 22 containing thetooling 24, the speed of impact of thetooling 24 against theunderbody 15 is effectively reduced by the upward speed of thelift arms 32, and because the impact occurs also at the end of the stroke rather than at the middle. This, in turn, eliminates the previously known necessity of decelerating the lift frame in the middle of its stroke prior to the impact of the tooling against theunderbody components 14. By eliminating the previously known necessity of decelerating the lift frame prior to impact of the tooling against theunderbody 15, the cycle time of the framing station of the present invention is effectively reduced. - With reference again to FIG. 7, in the event of a malfunction or jam of the framing system, the synchronism between the lifting
arms 32 andlift frame 22 may be disrupted. Such disrupting can occur on either the upward or downward stroke of thelift frame 22 andlift arm 32. - When the disruption between the synchronous movement of the
lift frame 22 andlift arm 32 occurs on the upward stroke of thelift frame 22 andlift arm 32, i.e. thelift arm 32 is maintained stationary despite upward movement of thelift frame 22, this relative movement will cause theplate 52 of theretainer assembly 50 to pivot downward as shown in phantom line in FIG. 7 against the force of thespring retainer 56. A sensor 70 (illustrated diagrammatically) detects this pivotal action of theretainer plate 52 and generates an output signal to disable or deactivate thesystem 10 thus preventing damage to theautomotive component 14 as well as thesystem 10. - Conversely, if a malfunction occurs during the downward stroke of the
lift frame 22 andlift arm 32 such that thelift arm 32 is maintained stationary despite the continued downward movement of thelift frame 22, the upper loop ofbelt 46 will be effectively elongated thus causing compression of the belt tensioning springs 58 as shown in phantom line. When this occurs, a further sensor 72 (illustrated diagrammatically) detects the compression of thesprings 58 and again generates an output signal to deactivate or shut down the system. - From the foregoing, it can be seen that the present invention provides a novel lift assembly for an automotive framing system which is not only simple in construction, but effective in use. A primary advantage of the present invention is that it reduces the overall cycle time for the geometry station like a framing station.
- Having described my invention, however, many modifications thereto will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains without deviation from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.
Claims (9)
Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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US09/895,901 US6505726B1 (en) | 2001-06-29 | 2001-06-29 | Soft touch lifter |
CA002390043A CA2390043A1 (en) | 2001-06-29 | 2002-06-07 | Soft touch lifter |
MXPA02006563A MXPA02006563A (en) | 2001-06-29 | 2002-06-28 | Soft touch lifter. |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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US09/895,901 US6505726B1 (en) | 2001-06-29 | 2001-06-29 | Soft touch lifter |
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US20030000804A1 true US20030000804A1 (en) | 2003-01-02 |
US6505726B1 US6505726B1 (en) | 2003-01-14 |
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US09/895,901 Expired - Fee Related US6505726B1 (en) | 2001-06-29 | 2001-06-29 | Soft touch lifter |
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US (1) | US6505726B1 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2390043A1 (en) |
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US20060032728A1 (en) * | 2004-08-10 | 2006-02-16 | Smith J R | Apparatus for removing vehicle from vehicle assembly conveyor system |
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EP1837120A1 (en) * | 2006-03-16 | 2007-09-26 | COMAU SpA | Welding station for motor-vehicle bodies or sub-assemblies thereof comprising bottom liftable and side movable frames interconnected with cams |
FR2913946A1 (en) * | 2007-03-20 | 2008-09-26 | Renault Sas | HANDLING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE RELIEF |
WO2008135683A1 (en) * | 2007-03-20 | 2008-11-13 | Renault S.A.S. | Materials handling device for motor vehicle bare chassis |
FR2935948A1 (en) * | 2008-09-17 | 2010-03-19 | Renault Sas | INSTALLATION FOR THE GEOMETRY OF PIECES TRANSPORTED ON A SLEDGE |
WO2010031932A1 (en) * | 2008-09-17 | 2010-03-25 | Renault S.A.S. | Installation for aligning parts transported on a pallet |
CN103693393A (en) * | 2013-11-05 | 2014-04-02 | 奇瑞汽车股份有限公司 | Adjustable ski |
CN104029750A (en) * | 2014-06-17 | 2014-09-10 | 北京北方车辆集团有限公司 | Pipelining type assembly production line for chassis of heavy vehicle |
CN104609124A (en) * | 2015-01-28 | 2015-05-13 | 上汽通用五菱汽车股份有限公司 | Hydraulic slide type vehicle body conveying device |
CN105752628A (en) * | 2016-04-29 | 2016-07-13 | 大连爱渥特机器人科技有限公司 | Lifting mechanism of side body conveying vehicle |
CN106315164A (en) * | 2016-08-27 | 2017-01-11 | 上海交通大学 | White car body online-detection intelligent positioning system and operating method thereof |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US6505726B1 (en) | 2003-01-14 |
MXPA02006563A (en) | 2005-12-05 |
CA2390043A1 (en) | 2002-12-29 |
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