A formation and rotation apparatus for use in forming and rotating interconnected sections of a cylindrical workpiece, including a frame and a head arranged within the frame, the head defining two slots and being operatively rotated via an integral drive assembly. A first slide block is slidably disposed within one of the two slots, and a second slide block is disposed within another of the two slots, each of the first and the second slide blocks include a cutting wheel and a beading wheel for successively forming each of the interconnected sections. An armature having an axis of rotation is also provided, along with a gripping mechanism being operatively connected to the armature. A drive mechanism selectively rotates the armature about the axis of rotation after the gripping means has closed about one of the interconnected sections.

A system and method of assembling a disposable fluid pump device is provided. The fluid pump device includes a pump body having a plurality of pump cylinders and at least one inlet selector valve for controlling fluid input to the pump cylinders. The method includes the steps of identifying at least one initial inlet selector valve position; generating, with at least one processor, encoded data representing at least the at least one inlet selector valve position; and setting the at least one selector valve to the at least one initial inlet selector valve position.

A surgical instrument. The surgical instrument includes an end effector that comprises a staple channel and an anvil that is movably translatable relative to the staple channel. A tool mounting portion is configured to interface with a robotic system and operably communicate with the end effector. The instrument further includes a first sensor that has an output that represents a first condition of a portion of the robotic system. A second sensor has an output that represents a position of the anvil. A third sensor has an output that represents a position of a reciprocating knife within the end effector. An externally accessible memory device communicates with the first, second and third sensors.

A vehicle body component mounting system is provided with, along a conveyance path for a vehicle body, an upstream component mounting work area using a cell production system, a central component mounting work area in which the vehicle body is conveyed by an overhead conveyor, and a downstream component mounting work area using the cell production system in this order. Components other than principal components are mounted to the vehicle body using the cell production system. The cell production system is adaptable by increasing the number of component boxes, and thus an increase in the length of the line is prevented. The increase in the length of the line is prevented by using a line production system as a base and also using the cell production system as a part thereof.

A system for manufacturing homes is provided. An embodiment includes a sub-assembly plant for assembling planar sections of a home according to production schedule for custom homes. The embodiment also includes at least one final assembly facility located proximal to a subdivision where a plurality of the custom homes are to be situated. The final assembly facility is for receiving the planar sections from the sub-assembly plant and for constructing the homes from planar portions according to the production schedule.

A machine tool includes: a joint portion processing control for controlling the processing of the joint portion in a joined workpiece such that a first workpiece is gripped by a grip section, and a predetermined region extending from a joint portion of a joined workpiece toward a second workpiece is processed over a range of not less than a predetermined width to have an outer diameter of not more than an outer diameter of the first workpiece; and a movement control for controlling the movement of the joined workpiece so as to slidingly move the joined workpiece relative to the support section, from a state in which the first workpiece is supported by the support section, up to a state in which the second workpiece is supported by the support section.