Patent ID: 6915568

Claim:
In a method of mass production of connecting rods utilizing five discrete work stations, said connecting rods having a crank bore at a first end, a pin bore at a second end, a shank portion disposed between the first and second ends and a cap along the first end, the method comprising: providing a work piece; rough grinding thrust faces on said work piece at a first work station; boring a crank bore in a first end of said work piece including fracture notches and boring a pin bore in a second end of said work piece at a second work station, said second work station having a single machine with flexible tooling capable of performing all boring operations; fracture splitting said work piece to create a cap along the first end of said work piece at a third work station; finish grinding said thrust faces at a fourth work station; and honing said crank bore and said pin bore at a fifth and final work station, wherein said honing occurs without additional boring subsequent to said fracture splitting.