Patent ID: 6939436

Claim:
An assembly machine for joining the respective edges of a pair of sheets ( 2 ) of plastic material of large dimension to one another, comprising a horizontal platform ( 10 ), said platform having an upper surface provided with an elongated longitudinal groove ( 18 ) extending between opposite ends of the surface, a first electrode ( 11 ) fixedly positioned relative to said groove and substantially coextensive therewith, a second electrode ( 14 ) mounted for vertical movement on top of the first electrode, the horizontal platform ( 10 ) being movable horizontally and in the longitudinal direction defined by the direction of the first electrode ( 11 ), means ( 15 , 15 ′) for retaining a set of sheets ( 2 ) against the upper surface of the platform ( 10 ) and the respective edges of the sheets in assembly position, the means including an array of suction holes and a source of pulling a vacuum through the holes, means ( 19 , 19 ′) for actuating the vacuum source to suck air through the suction holes and maintain the sheets on the platform, and a robot which controls different operations.