Patent ID: 6932263

Claim:
A body framing system for use with a vehicle assembly line in which loosely pre-assembled vehicle bodies are moved incrementally along a single assembly line from station to station, successive loosely pre-assembled vehicle bodies arrive at a framing station along the assembly line at predetermined build cycle time intervals, and each loosely pre-assembled vehicle body arriving at the framing station is welded to form a rigid vehicle body, the body framing system including: the framing station; a plurality of more than three pairs of opposed side framing gates for positioning at opposite sides of the framing station for use in welding a respective plurality of more than three vehicle body styles allowing random production of the plurality of more than three vehicle body styles on the single assembly line; and a transfer apparatus assembly operative for randomly exchanging any of the plurality of pairs of side framing gates positioned at the framing station with any other of the plurality of pairs of side framing gates within the predetermined build cycle time interval to allow the random production interchange of the more than three vehicle body styles on the single assembly line while maintaining the predetermined build cycle time interval.