Patent ID: 7954218

Claim:
A collar swaging system for use with fasteners in the manufacture of large mechanical assemblies, in which collars are transported to a collar swaging die, comprising: a gripperless receiving element at the collar swaging die for stopping but not gripping the transported collar, the collar being held against the receiving element by compressed air, wherein the swaging die is mounted in a separate ram assembly such that the swaging die is moveable longitudinally toward the workpiece by action of the ram assembly and also slightly laterally, independent of the ram assembly, approximately 90° relative to the die's longitudinal movement, such that when the collar is positioned against a workpiece by movement of the swaging die by the ram assembly and a fastener is thereafter moved into the positioned collar through an opening in the workpiece, the resulting action of the fastener on the collar causes the collar and the die but not the ram assembly to move laterally into alignment with the fastener such that the centerlines of the fastener, the collar and the die are aligned.