Patent ID: 6708385
Filing Date: 2004-03-23
Classification: B23Q,G05B,Y10T

Abstract:
An automatic production method comprising:(a) stationing a plurality of automatic machines at spaced apart locations along a production line, each of said machines including a respective controller structured to operate the machine to physically alter a unit of work; (b) preselecting one of a number of possible sequences of automatic machines to perform a preprogrammed sequence of production operations on each of a plurality of units of work requiring differing tool operations, wherein each of the sequences comprises a plurality of the machines and some of the units of work have a different one of the preselected sequences than the others; (c) automatically delivering each of said units of work in a single pass along said production line only to said stationed plurality of machines in the sequence preselected for each unit of work, whereby each unit of work passes each machine only once; and (d) automatically generating and applying a plurality of machine control commands to respective controllers of said preselected sequence of machines to controllably operate said selected machines to automatically perform said preprogrammed sequence of production operations altering each of said units of work.