Patent Application
20160325540
The present disclosure relates to apparatus and methods for applying a seal strip to an external component, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for applying a seal strip having an adhesive backing to an edge of an external component in a highly accurate, quick and repeatable fashion.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In article carrier systems, it is common to apply a strip of seal material to the peripheral edges of a support rail. The support rail forms an elongated component which is configured to be fixedly attached to the outer roof surface of a vehicle. Typically a pair of support rails are secured to the roof surface of the vehicle. One or more cross bars may be secured to the support rails, and the support rails may include channels for assisting in facilitating attachment of the cross bars thereto.
Typically the edges of the support rail that make contact with the vehicle roof surface have somewhat of a slight arcuate shape, as a result of the roof surface of the vehicle typically having a very slight curvature. It is required to apply a sealing material to the peripheral edges of a support rail, which acts like a weather-stripping material, to keep out rain, moisture and other elements from the interior area of the support rail once it is secured to the vehicle roof surface. Without the sealing material, rain and moisture may potentially make its way through openings in the roof surface where fasteners extend through the roof to engage with interior portions of the support rail, thus securing the support rail to the roof.
The seal material is typically a foam-like strip of material with adhesives on opposing surfaces, each covered with a removable paper backing material. An individual applying the seal material must carefully align the strip of seal material, which typically may be 4-6 feet in length, along each peripheral edge of the support rail, one edge at a time. This requires considerable care and skill by the individual. The individual must first remove one of the paper backing strips, then align the exposed adhesive side of the seal material with the peripheral edge to be covered, and then carefully, gradually lower the strip of seal material into contact with the peripheral edge. Since the edge is often only about 0.25 inch or less in thickness, the lowering and application of the strip of seal material must be done slowly so that it is placed precisely over the peripheral edge. If the seal strip starts to run off to one side or the other of the peripheral edge, the individual performing the application must lift a portion of the strip of seal material off of the peripheral edge, re-align the free portion of the strip of seal material, and then re-lower the free portion of the strip of seal material into contact with the peripheral edge. In practice, an inexperienced installer may need to perform this action several times during the application of one seal strip. And the more that the installer touches the adhesive, the more chance there is that oils or contaminants from the installer's fingers may be deposited on the adhesive, thus compromising the attachment once the seal strip is fully applied to the peripheral edge. Even with a skilled installer, the seal strip may still not be perfectly aligned over the full length of the peripheral edge. Depending on the degree of misalignment, there may be an increased risk of water, moisture or other contaminants eventually entering into the area under the support rail after its attachment to the roof. And a seal strip that is not applied perfectly along the peripheral edges of the support rail can create an aesthetically unappealing appearance as well.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a machine and method which enables a plurality of seal strips to be applied to the peripheral edges of an article carrier component in a highly precise manner, and more rapidly than could be accomplished by even an experienced installer.
In one aspect the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for rapidly and accurately applying seal strips to a surface of an external component along a predetermined location on the external component. The apparatus may comprise a plurality of elements including a support table, a first nest assembly, a bearing assembly, a second nest assembly and a vacuum source. The first nest assembly may have a plurality of vacuum passages leading to a plurality of vacuum ports. The vacuum ports may be formed in a first channel of the upper nest assembly. The channel is shaped to hold a seal strip therein and has a predetermined length and shape. The at least one bearing assembly may be used to support the first nest assembly for rotational movement relative to the support table. The second nest assembly is positioned fixedly relative to the support platform on the support table, and configured to removably hold the external component in a desired orientation. The vacuum source supplies a vacuum force to the vacuum ports to hold the seal strip within the channel as the first nest assembly is rotated towards the second nest assembly. The first nest assembly applies the seal strip to the predetermined location of the external component when the first nest assembly is fully rotated into a position closely adjacent the second nest assembly. Rotation of the first nest assembly away from the second nest assembly allows the external component, with the seal strip secured thereto, to be removed from the second nest assembly.
In another aspect the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for rapidly and accurately applying seal strips to a pair of generally parallel edges of an article carrying component along a predetermined location on the article carrying component. The apparatus may comprise a support table, an upper nest assembly, a plurality of bearing assemblies, a lower nest assembly and a vacuum source. The upper nest assembly has a plurality of vacuum passages leading to a plurality of vacuum ports. The vacuum ports are formed in first and second generally parallel channels of the upper nest assembly. The channels are shaped to hold first and second seal strips therein and the channels each have a predetermined length and shape. The plurality of bearing assemblies supports the upper nest assembly for rotational movement relative to the support table. The lower nest assembly is positioned fixedly relative to the support table and configured to removably cradle the article carrying component in a desired orientation, with the edges of the article carrying component facing outwardly. The vacuum source supplies a vacuum force to the vacuum ports to hold the seals strips within the channels as the seal strips are manually positioned in the channels by a user. The upper nest assembly further uses the vacuum force to hold the seal strips in the channels as the upper nest assembly is rotated towards the lower nest assembly. The upper nest assembly applies the seal strips to the edges of the article carrying component with a predetermined force when the upper nest assembly is fully rotated into a position closely adjacent the lower nest assembly. Thereafter, rotation of the upper nest assembly away from the lower nest assembly allows the article carrying component, with the seal strips secured thereto, to be manually removed from the lower nest assembly.
In still another aspect the present disclosure relates to a method for rapidly and accurately applying seal strips to a surface of an external component along a predetermined location on the external component. The method may comprise initially providing a support table. The method may also involve using a first nest assembly having a plurality of vacuum passages leading to a plurality of vacuum ports to hold a seal strip. The vacuum ports may be formed in a channel of the upper nest assembly. The channel may be shaped to hold the seal strip therein and the channel may have a predetermined length and shape. The method may involve using at least one bearing assembly to support the first nest assembly for rotational movement relative to the support table, and using a second nest assembly positioned fixedly relative to the support platform, to removably hold, in a cradle-like manner, the external component in a desired orientation. The method may use a vacuum source to supply a vacuum force to the vacuum ports to hold the seal strip within the first channel as the seal strip is positioned in the channel by a user. The method may also involve rotating the first nest assembly towards the second nest assembly while the seal strip is held in the channel using the vacuum force. The first nest assembly may be used to press the seal strip onto the predetermined location of the external component, with a predetermined force, as the first nest assembly is fully rotated into a position closely adjacent to the second nest assembly. The first nest assembly may then be rotated away from the second nest assembly to allow the external component, with the seal strip secured thereto, to be removed from the second nest assembly.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.
Referring to
In
The supports 22 of the lower nest assembly 14 have an upwardly facing U-shaped configuration which is dimensioned and shaped to hold an external support rail 27 therein. In this regard it will be appreciated that the support rail 27 typically has a slight curvature over its entire length. The degree of curvature will depend on the curvature of the vehicle roof that the support rail 27 is intended to be installed on. Thus, the supports 22 will typically have slightly varying heights so that the supports 22 can “cradle” the support rail 27 securely over its entire length. The outermost supports 22 also may include end plates 22a that ensure that the support rail 27 is placed on the supports 22 in a highly precise longitudinal position, relative to the upper nest assembly 12.
From
With further reference to
The upper nest assembly 12 further includes a plurality of frame members 30 which support the supporting sections 28a-28e. The frame members 30 are also coupled to an elongated cylindrical member 32.
The elongated cylindrical member 32 enables the supporting sections 28a-28e to be moved rotationally about an axis 34 extending longitudinally through an axial center of the bearings 16. The upper nest assembly 12 is shown in its lowered position in
With reference to
Vacuum source 44 may be controlled by a processor based control system 43 which cooperates with an optical sensor system 47a and light curtain detection system 47b, to automatically turn on the vacuum as needed when a support rail 27 is sensed as being in position on the supports 22 and an operator is sensed as being in position in front of the apparatus 10. In this regard the optical sensor system 47a may direct an optical beam along a generally horizontal plane from an emitter 47a1 to a receiver 47a2, with the emitter 47a1 and receiver 47a2 being positioned such that the beam from the emitter 47a1 will be interrupted when the support rail 27 is positioned in the supports 22. The interruption is a first signal component that tells the control system 43 that the support rail 27 is in position on the supports 22 and ready to have a seal strip 50 (shown in
The control system 43 may be programmed to ignore the presence of the user if it knows that the seal strip 50 is present in the upper nest assembly 12, and that the support rail 27 is positioned on the supports 22. A third signal component may be generated by the control system 43 detecting when at least one of the vacuum ports 42 is blocked by a seal strip 50. The control system 43 in this embodiment detects when a plurality, preferably at least 4, longitudinally spaced apart vacuum ports 42 are blocked by the seal strip 50. Thus, when the required number of vacuum ports 42 is/are detected as being blocked, and simultaneously the support rail 27 is detected as being present on the supports 22, the control system 43 may automatically initiate the motion of the upper nest assembly 12 to apply the seal strip 50 to the support rail 27, regardless if a user is detected as being present or not in front of the apparatus 10. If no seal strip 50 is detected, and no support rail 27 is detected as being positioned on the supports 22 by the sensor system 47a, then the control system 43 may turn off the vacuum source 44. Optionally, the control scheme could require that the user move away from the apparatus 10 (as detected by the light curtain detection system 47b), before the control system 43 initiates lowering of the upper nest assembly 12. Those skilled in the art will understand that other control schemes could easily be implemented, depending on the whether one wishes the operator to be completely removed from the vicinity of the apparatus 10 before a cycle starts.
The control system 43 controls cycling of the upper nest assembly 12 by controlling a plurality of pneumatic actuators which form part of a pneumatic control circuit 47c. The pneumatic actuators cooperate with a conventional gear and rack system (not shown), and with conventional check valves (not shown), and also with the light curtain detection system 47b to both controllably lower and raise the upper nest assembly 12. Preferably, the control system 43 is programmed such that if a cycle is underway (i.e., the upper nest assembly 12 is in the process of being raised or lowered), and the user enters into the area being sensed by the light curtain detection system 47b, the control system 43 will control the pneumatic control circuit 47c to instantly interrupt motion of the upper nest assembly 12. The motion preferably will not continue until the user again is sensed by the light curtain detection system 47b to have left the vicinity of the apparatus 10. Such control circuits are well known in the art and a detailed explanation of operation of such a circuit is not necessary. One or more conventional electronic limit switches (not shown) may also optionally be positioned adjacent the supports 22 to detect when the upper nest assembly 12 has reached a fully lowered and/or a fully raised orientation during its operational cycling. The counterweight 56 is useful for balancing the upper nest assembly 12 so that it may remain stationary when its movement is stopped at any point along its path of travel.
Optionally, a user control panel 45 (
The internal flow path 38 of each of supporting sections 28a-28e may thus be in communication with one another such that a vacuum is provided simultaneously at the ports 42 of each supporting section 28a-28e when vacuum source 44 is running.
It will also be appreciated that the channels 46a and 48a need not be perfectly parallel to one another; the actual shape of the channels 46a and 48a is selected in accordance with the layout and the widths of the edges 27a of the support rail 27 in mind. As such, with some support rails 27, the edges 27a may flare outwardly slightly towards the midpoint of the length, and in that instance the shapes of the channels 46a/48a would be formed to match the arcing slight curvatures of the edges 27a. In this example, for simplicity, it will be assumed that the edges 27a of the support rail 27 run perfectly parallel to one another.
In
The apparatus 10 may also make use of a counterweight 56, as shown in
In operation of the apparatus 10, a user first turns on the vacuum source 44 from control panel 45 and then positions a pair of seal strips 50 in the channels 46a and 48a. The vacuum force provided by the vacuum source 44 will hold each seal strip 50 securely in its respective channel 46a or 48a as each seal strip is laid in its respective channel. Once the seal strips 50 are laid in the channels 46a and 48a, the backing tape may then be removed from the exposed face of each seal strip 50 to expose the adhesive 52 on each seal strip. The control system 43 will then automatically initiate motion of the upper nest assembly 12 to begin the cycle as soon as the user steps away from the apparatus 10, as detected by the light curtain detection system 47b. Optionally, if the apparatus 10 is designed to be manually controlled, then the user may manually lower the upper nest assembly 12 down until the adhesives 52 of the seal strips 50 contact the edges 27a of the support rail 27. To aid in lowering and lifting the upper nest assembly 12, a suitable handle (not shown) may be attached to one or more of the supporting sections 28a-28e. The counterweight 56 may also help to limit the force that the upper nest assembly 12 applies to the edges 27a to a predetermined value that would be well less than that provided by the weight of the upper nest assembly 12, and thus may significantly aid the user in raising the upper nest assembly 12 back to its fully open position. Once fully lowered, the force applied by the upper nest assembly 12 is sufficient so that the exposed adhesive 52 of each seal strip 50 is firmly seated against its respective edge 27a. Alternatively, if no counterweight 56 is used, the full weight of the upper nest assembly 12 may be relied on to apply the needed application force. In either event, the application force only needs to be applied for typically about one second or less to firmly seat the seal strips 50 in the channels 46a and 48a.
At this point the vacuum source 44 may be turned off and the upper nest assembly 12 manually lifted by the user to its fully open position as shown in
Once both seal strips 50 have been applied to the edges 27a of the support rail 27 the support rail may be lifted out of the supports 22 and a new support rail positioned on the supports. The process described above may be repeated with the user applying two new lengths of seal strips 50 into the channels 46a and 48a.
Referring to
It will also be appreciated that for the example support rail 27 discussed herein, the shape and contour of the rail is such that both the driver side and passenger side support rails 27 can be operated on by the system 10 without reconfiguring the supporting sections 28a-28e and the supports 22. However, if the driver side and passenger side support rails have slightly different contours or shapes (possibly a mirror image of one another), it may be necessary to replace the support sections 28a-28e and/or the supports 22 when applying seal strips 50 to both support rails 27. Optionally, it will be appreciated that the upper nest assembly 12 and the lower nest assembly 14 could be configured to process a pair of support rails 27 (or even more than one pair) simultaneously in one cycle of operation. This would be accomplished by configuring the upper nest assembly 12 to hold two pairs of seal strips 50, and the lower nest assembly 14 to hold both of the support rails 27 in a precise orientation relative to the positions of the 4 seal strips in the upper nest assembly 14. The apparatus 10 would apply both seal strips 50 simultaneously to the exposed edges of the pair of support rails 27 in one cycle of operation.
While the apparatus 10 has been described in connection with the application of seal strips on a luggage rack component (i.e., a support rail), it will be appreciated that the apparatus 10 may be used with only minor modifications to accommodate virtually any type of component which requires the application of a weather-stripping like element to an edge or surface thereof in a highly accurate and repeatable manner. The apparatus 10 described herein essentially eliminates the skill required by an operator when applying a seal tape in a “free hand” manner to a narrow edge of a component such as a support rail. The apparatus 10 applies the seal strips 50 in a highly precise, repeatable and rapid manner each and every cycle of its operation. The apparatus 10 furthermore allows an operator to apply a pair of the seal strips 50 to the edges of a support rail in just a few seconds, which would otherwise take an experienced individual possibly 2-4 minutes to accomplish if performing the application in a free hand manner. The highly precise manner in which the apparatus 10 applies the seal strips 50 to the edges 27a of the support rail 27 further produces a perfectly clean, aesthetically pleasing appearance when the application process is completed, and also when the support rail 27 is eventually installed on a vehicle.
While various embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications or variations which might be made without departing from the present disclosure. The examples illustrate the various embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, the description and claims should be interpreted liberally with only such limitation as is necessary in view of the pertinent prior art.
