A virtual stop station is provided having a carriage straddling an assembly line operation. This provides an independently moving platform upon which one or more manufacturing robots are affixed. The carriage is coordinated with and tracked to the linear motion of the assembly line. A vision guidance system centers the workpiece, and lifting arms mounted on the moving carriage will locate the workpiece and lift the workpiece up off of the conveyor, while being coordinated with it. The workpiece and robots thus are now fixtured to the same frame, thus eliminating movement relative to one another creating a virtual stop station. Once subassembly is complete, the coordinated robotic gantry will disengage from the conveyor and return home. The instant abstract is neither intended to define the invention disclosed in this specification nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

A method for manufacturing an automobile includes placing a body on a pre-assembled underside part set, and then assembling the underside part set onto the body. The underside part set includes a rear suspension in which a spring and a shock absorber are arranged side by side, and the spring is brought into a compressed state in the underside part set before the body is placed on the underside part set.

An information processing apparatus disclosed has a controller configured to execute the processing of accepting a request for retrieving a target vehicle body unit that is laid at a specific place, selecting a chassis unit for retrieval from among chassis units in the state separated from any vehicle body unit, the chassis unit for retrieval being a chassis unit to be used to retrieve the target vehicle body unit, and sending a retrieval command to the chassis unit for retrieval, the retrieval command being a command to retrieve the target vehicle body unit.

The present disclosure is directed to battery cart for transporting large and heavy electric car batteries. The cart includes a pair of independently movable and positionable cart half assemblies, with each cart half assembly having a pair of battery supports that are slidably positionable and lockable along a center crossbar. Each support includes height adjustable columns. The cart assemblies therefore, are adjustable to support batteries of varying sizes as well as positioning a supported battery to desired height, facilitating repairs to, and transport of, the electric car battery.

Apparatus for use in robotic servicing of a vehicle has a frame defining a bay for receiving a laterally positioned vehicle and a hallway longitudinally adjacent the bay, the hallway accommodating a mobile robotic servicing sub-system. A wheeled chassis underlies and supports the frame with the top of the chassis providing a floor of the bay and the hallway. A deck is located above the bay and an automated robotic system is used to pick the component from the deck, move a component along the frame, and to lower the component into the hallway for release to and pickup by the mobile robotic servicing sub-system to enable servicing with the component of the vehicle by the mobile robotic servicing sub-system.

The invention relates to a device for measuring and adjusting the parameters of the chassis geometry at a rear axle of a motor vehicle on a production line for the motor vehicle. Gripping and holding means for the rear axle and loading means for the rear axle are associated with the production line. According to the invention, a plurality of interchangeable frames is associated with the production line, and positioning means for positioning one of the interchangeable frames into a position for gripping the rear axle in the production process are associated with the production line. The gripping and holding means for the rear axle and the loading means for the rear axle are associated with the interchangeable frame in question. The interchangeable frames can thereby be matched to rear axles of different vehicle types, such that these different rear axles can be processed in one assembly line.

A manufacturing station and a manufacturing process for workpieces, in particular car body parts. The manufacturing station includes a processing area having a working point and a processing apparatus. A security partition surrounds the processing area and has a secure access point for workpiece transport. The manufacturing station further includes an automatic loading apparatus with loading robots. The loading apparatus loads and unloads workpieces onto and off a conveyor and transports the workpieces into and out of the processing area. The automatic and multifunctional loading apparatus is arranged, together with a workpiece support, inside the security partition, wherein the workpiece support is arranged within the working area of the loading robots. A loading robot provides workpieces and carries out a setting-up procedure.

A mobile cart for use in handling vehicle parts, that includes a base subassembly including a first side and a second side, and a storage subassembly coupled to the base subassembly. The storage subassembly includes a first row of swing arms extending along the first side, and a second row of swing arms extending along the second side. The swing arms in the first row and the second row are positionable between an upright position and a lowered position. When in the upright position, a first slot is defined between each swing arm in the first row, and a second slot is defined between each swing arm in the second row, such that a respective first slot is axially aligned with a respective second slot relative to the mobile cart such that a plurality of retention slots are defined that are oriented and sized to receive a vehicle part therein.

A mobile assembly support unit that includes an assembly line sync mechanism having a line engagement unit coupled to a rotatable sync arm, a propulsion unit having a propulsion wheel and a propulsion motor, a translation arm coupled to the propulsion unit and engageable with the rotatable sync arm, and an air cylinder coupled to the propulsion unit. The air cylinder is actuatable between a retracted position and an extended position such that when the air cylinder is in the retracted position, the translation arm is engaged with the rotatable sync arm and the propulsion unit is in a lifted position and when the air cylinder is in the extended position, the translation arm is disengaged with the rotatable sync arm and the propulsion unit is in a descended position.

A modular vehicle assembly system and methods for increased flexibility and adaptability of a high-volume assembly facility which builds several vehicle models. In one example, the invention includes modular assembly equipment (AE) support pallets which are shipped to vendors for installation of selected AE equipment devices that are specific to a predetermined assembly operation and then validation tested prior to shipment to the assembly facility. The validated modular AE pallets and AE devices are then shipped to the assembly facility and quickly installed to support manufacturing, assembly or other operations.