17389 results about "Assembly line" patented technology

Agricultural operations by applying flexible manufacturing software, robotics and sensing techniques to agriculture. In manufacturing operations utilizing flexible machining and flexible assembly robots, work pieces flow through a fixed set of workstations on an assembly line. At different stations are located machine vision systems, laser based raster devices, radar, touch, photocell, and other methods of sensing; flexible robot armatures and the like are used to operate on them. This flexible agricultural automation turns that concept inside out, moving software programmable workstations through farm fields on mobile robots that can sense their environment and respond to it flexibly. The agricultural automation will make it possible for large scale farming to take up labor intensive farming practices which are currently only practical for small scale farming, improving land utilization efficiency, while lowering manpower costs dramatically.

A battery transfer and charging system for electric vehicles is described. A station removes one or more spent batteries of electric vehicles having multiple batteries. The receiving system includes an engagement device for engaging with engagement structures of the batteries, in order to assist the removal of spent batteries. Spent batteries removed from vehicles may be tested and charged as they progress through the system in an assembly-line fashion. Following recharge, batteries may be transferred to the displacement station for installation within later vehicles. Batteries which cannot adequately be recharged can be automatically removed from the system.

The present invention determines the dimensions and volume of an object by using a novel 3-D camera that measures the distance to every reflective point in its field of view with a single pulse of light. The distance is computed by the time of flight of the pulse to each camera pixel. The accuracy of the measurement is augmented by capture of the laser pulse shape in each camera pixel. The camera can be used on an assembly line to develop quality control data for manufactured objects or on a moving or stationary system that weighs as well as dimensions the objects. The device can also ascertain the minimum size of a box required to enclose an object.

The present invention relates to a process for producing an opaque, transparent or translucent transaction card having multiple features, such as a holographic foil, integrated circuit chip, silver magnetic stripe with text on the magnetic stripe, opacity gradient, an invisible optically recognizable compound, a translucent signature field such that the signature on back of the card is visible from the front of the card and an active thru date on the front of the card. The invisible optically recognizable compound is an infrared ink and/or film, which can be detected by a sensor found in an ATM or card assembly line.

A method and system for custom building a toy vehicle inside a store. A child makes design choices at a computer terminal inside the store that employs design software relating to a design of a toy car, the design software permitting design choices that trigger an ordering of components and an assembly of the toy car that simulates a real car assembly, the assembly commencing while the child interacts with the software and being completed within approximately a half hour of a first design choice. The assembly line located inside the store allows the child to dramatically see assembly of components and permits participating in the assembly by moving assembly objects to make design choices at component installation points. Design choices include style, model, color, front and rear ends, lights, doors, hood, height, wheels, engine, muffler, interior, spoiler, name and logo, and attachments.

An on-demand robotic food assembly line can include one or more conveyors and one or more robots, operable to assemble food items in response to received orders for food items, and one or more ovens operable to, for example, partially cook assembled food items. The on-demand robotic food assembly line can optionally package the assembled and partially cooked food items in packaging, and optionally load the packaged partially cooked food items into portable cooking units (e.g., ovens) that are optionally loaded into racks that are, in turn, optionally loaded into delivery vehicles, where the food items are individually cooked under controlled conditions while en route to consumer destinations, such the cooking of each food item is completed just prior to arrival at the consumer destination location. A dynamic fulfillment queue for control of assembly is maintained based at least in part on estimated transit time for orders.

A message transmission system accepts a telephone call from a user who wishes to send an e-mail message, send an SMS message, perform an Internet query or retrieve his or her electronic mail. The voice call is transcribed and the message is sent, or the question in the voice call is transcribed and answered by an agent. Any number of agents connect to a central site over an Internet connection and transcribe messages or answer queries in an assembly line like fashion. In addition, a Web query delivery system accepts a query or statement from a user; the query is transcribed, classified, and then broadcast over any medium to any number of experts or web sites that desire to answer the particular type of query received. The entire query is delivered to an expert or web site who provides a full answer to the user.

A robot is made to recognize and manipulate different types of cable harnesses in an assembly line. This is achieved by using a stereo camera system to define a 3D cloud of a given cable harness. Pose information of specific parts of the cable harness are determined from the 3D point cloud, and the cable harness is then re-presented as a collection of primitive geometric shapes of known dimensions, whose positions and orientations follow the spatial position of the represented cable harness. The robot can then manipulate the cable harness by using the simplified representation as a reference.

A system for the representation, editing, evaluation, and inference of graphical models is disclosed which can be used to construct and evaluate a graphical model or graphical network and to calculate inference values. An efficient method of updating graphical models is demonstrated, and provides the basis for an improved system for manipulation and evaluation of probabilistic models. The graphical network editor is useful in the construction of graphical modes such as Bayesian Networks. The graphical network and network graphical user interface (GUI) are used in conjunction with each other to model a system wherein failure probabilities and the current state of components are taken into account to monitor the health and progress of a system for an engineer or engineering software to evaluate and monitor. The evaluation is useful in the monitoring of assets and other real systems having multiple, dependent, and independently operating components such as a pump, a manufacturing plant, a production line, an assembly line, where asset health and quality control is a concern. The asset components each influencing some overall outcome of a system or situation. Success or failure or probability of success, probability of failure and health of the system can be monitored and manipulated by altering the values of prior probability and posterior probability values. Failure correlation between components can be evaluated wherein failure rates of asset is unknown. Production and quality can be monitored and altered.

This invention encompasses an apparatus and methods which enable the testing of fingerprint readers in an automated fashion. A test object representative of a fingerprint can be created from an electrically conducive silicone material. Due to the properties of this material, the same test object can be read by fingerprint sensors of various types. Once the test object is generated, it can be affixed to an automated apparatus thus allowing tests to be conducted in closed chambers, on an assembly line, or under other conditions that would be impossible or impractical were human fingers to be used.

The invention relates to a method, system and computer program useful for producing a product, such as a microelectronic device, for example in an assembly line, where the production facility includes parallel production of assembly lines of products on identically configured chambers, tools and/or modules. Control is provided between such chambers. Behaviors of a batch of wafers (or of each wafer) are collected as the first batch (or each wafer) is processed by one of the identically configured chambers in one assembly line to produce the microelectronic device. The information relating to the behavior is shared with a controller of another one (or more) of the identically configured chambers, process tools and/or modules, to provide an adjustment of the process tool and thereby to produce a second batch (or next wafer) which is substantially identical, within tolerance, to the first batch (or wafer).

A method of designing a manufacturing process line. A process is identified as a set of discrete steps. A subset of steps is assigned to one of a plurality of standardized work cells. The work cells include a standardized workpiece presenter and a standardized processing tool. Additional subsets of discrete steps are assigned to a standardized work cell until the design for the manufacturing process is completed.

The invention provides an OpenFlow network system and method for enhancing programmable capability. Two assembling devices of the system are expanded respectively, for a network controller, a protocol analysis and configuration module, a data packet processing and programming module, a queue resource allocating module and a link-layer protocol allocating module are added, and an interchanger is additionally provided with four modules which are a protocol analysis module, a data packet processing assembly line module, an output queue module and a link-layer protocol analysis module and respectively correspond to the four modules additionally arranged for the network controller. Through cooperation of the four sets of corresponding modules, the OpenFlow network system can deploy a plurality of heterogeneous networks to achieve data forwarding independent to protocols, and network programmability is enhanced. According to the OpenFlow network system and method, different heterogeneous networks which are of different systematic structures, have an independent addressing function, routes, and related network protocol execution functions are deployed in the OpenFlow network system, software defining capacity and software defining category in an existing SDN are substantially improved, and programmability of the whole SDN is obviously improved.

A bar code (10) has primary information (46, 48, 50, 51) encoded in one direction (e.g., horizontally) and secondary information (13, 21, 36) encoded in another direction (e.g., vertically) in single (11) or multiple tracks (35) in selected ones of the vertical bars (11) of a bar code (10). Using a non-linear, variable amplitude scanner, all of the bars are scanned in the one direction to obtain all of the primary information and all of those vertical bars having secondary information are scanned in the other direction to obtain all of the secondary information. The one direction which is perpendicular to the vertical bars (11), is determined by first rotating the scan path axis (86, 87) until both start (46) and end (48) code bars are read thereby placing the scan path entirely within the total bar code, and, then, further rotating the scan path (88, 89) to determine the direction of the minimum crossing width (Lsc 80) of the total bar code (10). Secondary information is scanned in planes orthogonal to the one direction after those vertical bars (11) having such information are first identified and selected. In a preferred embodiment, the decoded secondary information may be used to control selected station process operations for selected products in a continuous manufacturing assembly line.

A single piece pulsed flow wing assembly method providing for horizontal wing manufacture is accomplished using synchronized automated vehicles guided in a predetermined manner to move and, locate wing structure in a plurality of assembly positions. Multi-axis assembly positioning systems (MAPS) are used at each assembly position to support and index components in the wing structure and determinant assembly techniques are used for indexing of the components. Modular automated manufacturing processes employing magnetic assembly clamping, drilling, fastener insertion, and sealant application are employed.

The invention discloses an automatic device, in particular to a specific production line method which is used for assembling parts of an LED (Light-Emitting Diode) bulb lamp, also implements online inspection and testing of the LED bulb lamp, obtains the LED bulb lamp qualified by inspection and improves production efficiency. The automatic device comprises a rivet assembly line, a light source plate assembly line, a lampshade assembly line, an LED lamp aging testing line and an LED lamp high voltage testing and light color electricity detecting line; and the parts of the LED bulb lamp are assembled and tested by the five workshop sections. The automatic device has the advantages that production efficiency can be effectively improved; quality of a produced product is stable; and labor intensity of workers is reduced. The automatic device can be widely applied to LED lamp production enterprises.

The invention relates to a double-layer assembly line with the interval adjustable. An upper layer adjustable assembly line of the double-layer assembly line with the interval adjustable is installed on a lower layer adjustable assembly line. When an adjusting screw rod is rotated, two upper belt mounting plates can move outwards or inwards simultaneously under the action of synchronizing wheels, meanwhile, under the action of four connecting frames, lower belt mounting plates can be driven to move outwards or inwards simultaneously under the action of lower sliders, thus, the distance between upper transmission belt wheels and lower transmission belt wheels can be adjusted simultaneously to adapt to carriers with various widths, three carrier lifting mechanisms and three carrier stopping mechanisms are installed on an upper plate of the upper layer adjustable assembly line, the carriers are jacked and positioned by the carrier lifting mechanisms after being stopped, and then each carrier can act in a corresponding station and flow to the next station after the action is completed; lifting air cylinders are installed on a lower plate of the lower layer adjustable assembly line, and stop dogs are connected to the lifting air cylinders. The double-layer assembly line with the interval adjustable is used for transporting product carriers, the carriers can stop in any position of the assembly line for machining, and thus the double-layer assembly line with the interval adjustable can adapt to different products.