Patent ID: 6876896

Claim:
A system for performing a manufacturing operation relative to at least a first path comprising: a plurality of first carriages mounted for independent movement relative to a first path; a plurality of first active elements operatively associated with a plurality of first reactive elements, each of said first reactive elements associated with a particular one of said plurality of first carriages, to produce relative movement between the first carriages and the first path, with each of said first active elements being independently activated to cause such relative movement; a plurality of rows of switching sensors with each of said rows being operatively associated with a particular one of said first carriages, said rows being arranged along said first path, each particular one of said switching sensors being operatively associated with a particular one of said first active elements so as to enable activation of that particular first active element when the particular one of said first carriages operatively associated with the row of switching sensors that includes the particular switching sensor traverses within operative proximity of the particular switching sensor; at least one controller for controlling the amount of activation of said first active elements in order to provide independent control of at least one first motion parameter of each said first carriages; and a first tool associated with each first carriage for performing at least part of the manufacturing operation; wherein the controller selectively controls the amount of activation of said first active elements to independently direct the first carriages along the path so that the manufacturing operation can at least partially be conducted by the first tool.