A typical motor vehicle assembly plan is set up to produce several different body styles or models on the same assembly line. Each body style requires unique sub-assemblies and each sub-assembly requires unique end effecter tooling. In the prior art, in order to change end effecter tooling to effect a body style changeover at a sub-assembly location from a first model to a second model, robots are utilized to move the end effecter tooling corresponding to the first model from the sub-assembly location to a suitable storage location, all of the energy feeds for the tooling are decoupled, the robot picks up new tooling corresponding to the second model, the energy needs of the new tooling are coupled to the robot, and the robot moves the new tooling to the sub-assembly location. This entire procedure is time consuming and inefficient especially in a random model mix assembly plant where the body style is frequently changed.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds