This disclosure relates to a fixture for holding or retaining a workpiece. Fixtures are known and used to hold or retain one or more workpieces while an operator performs one or more processing steps on the workpiece(s), for example. The fixture can include a nest that has a negative relief surface that corresponds to the geometry of the particular workpiece that is to be held in the fixture. Typically, the workpiece is received from prior operations or machines in a fabrication/assembly line. The assembly line may be reconfigurable to fabricate design variations of a general type of workpiece, such as design variations of an automotive interior workpiece that correspond to different vehicle models. The workpieces for each different design variation require different nests that must be changed in/out with each reconfiguration.
A rotary nest fixture according to an example of the present disclosure includes a fixture that has a pivot that defines an axis. The fixture includes a periphery circumscribing the axis. The periphery includes a plurality of work faces that are each oriented toward an exclusive radial direction with respect to the axis, and a plurality of nests. Each of the nests is removably mounted on one of the work faces. The fixture is rotatable about the axis such that the nests can be selectively moved between an active position and an inactive position.
A rotary nest fixture according to an example of the present disclosure includes a support frame and a fixture rotatably mounted on the support frame. The fixture includes a periphery circumscribing the axis. The periphery includes a plurality of work faces that are each oriented toward an exclusive radial direction with respect to the axis and a plurality of nests. Each of the nests is removably mounted on one of the work faces. The fixture is rotatable about the axis such that the nests can be selectively moved between an active position and an inactive position, and a lock that is selectively engageable such that in a locked state the fixture is prevented from rotating.
A rotary nest fixture according to an example of a present disclosure includes a fixture that has a pivot that defines an axis. The fixture includes a periphery circumscribing the axis. The periphery includes a plurality of work faces that are each oriented toward an exclusive radial direction with respect to the axis, and a plurality of nests. Each of the nests is removably mounted on one of the work faces. The fixture is rotatable about the axis. An actuator is coupled with the fixture and operable to rotate the fixture about the axis. A controller is coupled with the actuator and operable to selectively activate the actuator to rotate the fixture to move the nests between an active position and an inactive position.
The various features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.
The rotary nest fixture 20 includes a fixture 22 that has a pivot 24 that defines an axis, represented at A. The fixture 22 includes a periphery 26 that circumscribes the axis A. The periphery 26 includes a plurality of work faces, represented at W1, W2, W3, and W4. In this example, the fixture 22 is polyhedral and has six planar sides or faces. The four work faces can be equivalent in area, although in other examples the work faces can have non-equivalent areas. One or more of the work faces can also be contoured or otherwise adapted as desired for a particular functionality.
The fixture 22 will generally have four of the work faces, although fewer or additional work faces can be provided by designing the fixture 22 with a different polyhedral shape (e.g., triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, etc. cross-sectional geometry). The end axial faces of the fixture 22 can serve additional functionality as discussed in further examples below, such as fixture support, locking, and actuation.
Referring also to
Each work face of the fixture 22 includes a corresponding nest 28/30/32/34. A “nest” is a contoured negative relief corresponding to the geometry of a particular workpiece. Although the nests 28/30/32/34 are shown schematically, the nests 28/30/32/34 each have a differing contoured negative relief geometry that corresponds to different geometry workpieces that are to be processed using the rotary nest fixture 20.
The nests 28/30/32/34 are removably mounted, as represented at M, to the respective work faces of the fixture 22 such that the nests 28/30/32/34 can be removed, replaced, maintained, and/or exchanged with different nests. The nests 28/30/32/34 can be affixed to the work faces using fasteners or the like.
The fixture 22 is rotatable about the axis such that the nests 28/30/32/34 can be selectively moved between an active position and an inactive position. In most examples, the active position will face vertically upwards, as represented at U in
In this example, the rotary nest fixture 120 also includes a lock 42 that is selectively engageable such that in a locked state the fixture 22 is prevented from rotating. The lock 42 can be a manual lock, and automated lock, or a semi-automated lock. If automated or semi-automated, the lock 42 can include a lock actuator 42a and a controller 44 can be connected with the lock actuator 42a to control the operation thereof with respect to the locked state. For example, the lock actuator can include a motor, solenoid, or the like.
Referring also to
The first lock member 44a can be mounted on the fixture 22 or the frame support 40 and the second lock member 44b can be mounted on the other of the fixture or the frame support 40. In a further example, the fixture 22 includes a plurality of the pin receivers mounted on an axial face and circumferentially-spaced around the axis A. The frame support 40 includes a single lock pin. The fixture 22 can be rotated until one of the pin receivers aligns with the lock pin. The lock pin can then be moved into the pocket of the pin receiver to prevent rotation of the fixture 22 such that a selected one of the nests 28/30/32/34 is in the active position. In this regard, an operator can rapidly change configurations by rotating the fixture 22 between selected ones of the nests 28/30/32/34 without having to remove a nest, mount a different nest, and take steps to ensure that the newly mounted nest is properly mounted and aligned. Additionally, less space is needed for nest storage and the ease of reconfiguration reduces risk of nest damage.
In a further example, the rotary nest fixture 120 can also include an actuator 50 that is coupled with the fixture 22 to control rotation. The actuator 50 can also be connected with the controller 44, which can selectively activate the actuator 50 as well as the lock 42 to control operation of the rotary nest fixture 120 in an automated fashion. In this regard, the controller 44 can include hardware (e.g., a microprocessor, display, operation interface, etc.), software, or combinations thereof.
Although a combination of features is shown in the illustrated examples, not all of them need to be combined to realize the benefits of various embodiments of this disclosure. In other words, a system designed according to an embodiment of this disclosure will not necessarily include all of the features shown in any one of the Figures or all of the portions schematically shown in the Figures. Moreover, selected features of one example embodiment may be combined with selected features of other example embodiments.
The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. The scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/971,199, filed on Mar. 27, 2014.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61971199 | Mar 2014 | US |