Patent ID: 8695201

Claim:
An elastic tube alignment system for aligning components to each other, comprising: a first component; a second component; a plurality of upstanding elastic tubes connected to at least one of said first and second components, each elastic tube of the plurality of upstanding elastic tubes having a tube wall; a plurality of apertures formed in at least one of said first and second components, each aperture of the plurality of apertures having an aperture wall; wherein said plurality of apertures are geometrically distributed in coordinated relationship to a geometrical distribution of said plurality of elastic tubes such that each elastic tube of the plurality of upstanding elastic tubes is receivable into a respective aperture of the plurality of apertures; wherein when each said elastic tube of the plurality of elastic tubes is received into its respective aperture of the plurality of apertures, an elastic deformation occurs at an interface between the tube wall and the aperture wall, wherein said elastic deformation is a result of each said tube wall having a diameter larger than at least a portion of its respective aperture; and wherein said elastic deformation is averaged over the total of said elastically deformed tubes such that the first component is precisely located relative to the second component, said elastic deformation comprising resiliently reversible elastic deformation of each said tube wall and said aperture wall.