A method for the production of an article in an automatic machine operating by means of a succession of operating cycles. The production method comprises the steps of: moving, at the beginning of a first operating cycle, a carriage provided with at least one seat configured to accommodate a component by means of a main conveyor and along a processing path; stopping, during the first operating cycle, the carriage in a loading station; inserting, during the first operating cycle, the component into the seat while the carriage is standing still in the loading station; checking, at the end of the first operating cycle, whether the component is actually present in the seat; moving, at the beginning of a second operating cycle, the carriage from the loading station to a following station, only if, at the end of the first operating cycle, the first component is actually present in the seat; keeping, at the beginning of the second operating cycle, the carriage in the loading station, if, at the end of the first operating cycle, the seat still lacks the component; and inserting, during the second operating cycle, the first component into the seat while the carriage is standing still in the loading station, if, at the end of the first operating cycle, the seat still lacks the component.

A carriage on which a work is supplied and which is transported by a transport path has a reference member that is a reference for positioning of the work and a fixing unit whose motion is controlled by a control unit provided outside the carriage and that fixes the work. A work which has been positioned in a first direction on the carriage and has not yet been fixed by the fixing unit is pressed in a second direction against the reference member by a positioning unit, in which the second direction intersects with the first direction, and the work is positioned on the carriage in the second direction.

A screw fastening process can be performed by reliably positioning a screw in a screw hole while suppressing a decrease in the degree of freedom of movement of a screw fastening device. Provided is a screw guide device that guides a screw to a screw hole. The screw is fastened by a screw fastening device to the screw hole formed in a workpiece to be fastened to be fastened. The screw guide device includes a guide device body provided at a support that supports the workpiece to be fastened, and also includes a guide member that is provided in the guide device body and that is openable and closable in a radial direction orthogonal to a central axis of a shaft section of the screw. The guide member forms a screw insert through which the shaft section is inserted when the guide member is in a closed state.

An object gripping system includes a position and orientation measurement unit configured to measure a position and an orientation of at least one target object based on an image obtained by capturing the at least one target object. A selection unit is further provided to select at least one holdable target object based on the position and orientation. A determination unit determines, as an object to be held, a holdable target object based on a priority set, when assembling the holdable target object to an assembly destination object, and a controlling unit controls a holding unit to hold the object to be held, which is determined by the determination unit.

A continuous strip of T-Nuts formed on a common strip of metal. Each T-Nut of the strip of T-Nuts is integrally connected to the next adjacent T-Nut by carry tabs. The carry tabs can be frangible themselves or contain a frangible portion. Each T-Nut includes a cylindrical bore therein and a threaded interior. A mechanism feeds and severs the endmost T-Nut in endwise fashion. The mechanism to feed and sever the endmost T-Nut includes a cutting blade positioned vertically below the frangible portion of the carry tab. A shearing ram having a guide positioned axially in line with the cylindrical bore in the endmost T-Nut is adapted to move vertically from an upper to a lower position to engage the cutting blade with the frangible portion and sever the endmost T-Nut.

A method to produce multi-component objects, including a first component and a second component assembled to it, provides to feed the first component to a loading station, to feed the second component to the same loading station and then to assemble them so as to produce the multi-component object.

An automatic locking device for assembling a part to a workpiece is provided. The device includes a feeding mechanism, a fixture mechanism, a loading and unloading mechanism, a lifting mechanism, a rotating mechanism, and a locking mechanism. The feeding mechanism feeds the part to the fixture mechanism. The loading and unloading mechanism places the workpiece on the part. The lifting mechanism lifts up the fixture mechanism together with the part and the workpiece. The rotating mechanism rotates the fixture mechanism. The locking mechanism locks the part to the workpiece after the part and the workpiece are rotated by the rotating mechanism. The automatic locking device integrates multiple functions in a single station, reduces the number of the work stations and operatives, lowers the cost, and improves accuracy of the assembly. An assembling apparatus including the automatic locking device is also provided.

A method and a system for dispensing bolts are provided. The system includes a dispensing cartridge including a dispensing tube and a dispensing section. The dispensing tube includes a first end, a second end, and a passage provided between the first end and the second end. The passage is configured to store a plurality of bolts to be supplied to the dispensing tube through the first end such that the bolts are moved through the passage. The dispensing section is located near the second end of the dispensing tube and is configured to dispense the bolts one at a time from the second end.

A joining apparatus magazine temporarily stores a plurality of joining elements loaded from a loading station and feeds the joining elements to a joining head connected to an assembly line robot. The magazine comprises a housing connectable to the joining head; a drive motor; and a rotary body rotatable about an axis by the drive motor. The rotary body includes a plurality of chambers for temporarily storing joining elements. The magazine further comprises a loading arrangement operable for loading joining elements into the chambers; and an unloading arrangement operable for discharging a joining element from the chamber toward the joining head. The loading arrangement and the unloading arrangement are coupled together such that either a chamber can be loaded or a chamber can be unloaded.

A parts supply device includes a robot attachment member to be attached to a distal end portion of a robot arm, a parts holding tool supported by the robot attachment member, a stick mounting unit supported by the robot attachment member and on which a stick containing parts is mounted, a parts discharging mechanism which discharges, one by one, the parts contained in the stick mounted on the stick mounting unit, a guide member that guides the parts discharged by the parts discharging mechanism to a holding position by a holding member of the parts holding tool, and a relative movement device that moves the guide member in a state where one of the parts is held by the holding member to allow the one of the parts held by the holding member to be mounted on a predetermined position.