Patent ID: 8344280

Claim:
A joining head arrange for delivering a joining component, such as a weld stud, to the joining head of an operator, such as a robotic stud welder, for placing and fixing joining components onto a workpiece during a joining operation, the delivery mechanism comprising: a housing movable by an operator to a placement location on the workpiece; a slide mounted on the housing and movable, by means of a linear drive, relative to the housing in a joining direction perpendicular to the workpiece; at least one component holder, located on the slide and which can releasable hold a component during placement and the joining operation; at least one feed device for feeding components, at a transfer location, from the feed device to the component holder; and the component holder is rotatable, about an axis that is aligned transversely relative to the joining direction, from a transfer position, where the component is aligned at the transfer location, to a joining position aligned with the joining direction.