Patent ID: 8196289

Claim:
A method for staking a fastener of a part assembly, comprising: conveying the part assembly and the fastener thereof on a pallet along a direction of conveyance to a staking station; resiliently lifting the pallet and the part assembly thereon as well as the fastener of the part assembly upwardly from the conveyor to a location between lower and upper staking punches; providing relative movement of the lower and upper staking punches toward each other to stake the fastener of the part assembly; lowering the pallet and the staked part assembly downwardly onto the conveyor for conveyance from the staking station; the lower and upper staking punches having resilient bushings that respectively contact the part assembly from below and above during the staking; the lower staking punch being supported by a lower lifter for the staking and the upper staking punch being moved downwardly to provide the relative movement of the lower and upper staking punches toward each other to stake the fastener of the part assembly; and the lower staking punch being supported by a lower lifter that includes springs for providing the resilient lifting of the pallet upwardly from the conveyor upon upward movement of the lower lifter, and a lower lock moving at least one lock member from an unlocked position adjacent the lower lifter to a locked position below the lower lifter to support the lower lifter during the staking provided by the downward movement of the upper staking punch.