Patent ID: 7837084

Claim:
A jig-aided method for producing predetermined-location welds between, and joining, an end in an elongate beam having a long axis and a beam-end column-interface component which possesses a nominal plane, and doing so in a manner which accommodates, within a predetermined range, an infinite number of different, relative, angular, spatial dispositions between the long axis of such a beam and the nominal plane of such a component, said method comprising employing articulated, plural-axis jig structure, establishing a selected, angular, spatial disposition between such a beam long axis and such a beam-end component nominal plane through implementing, in the jig structure, positional adjustments, as required, between the associated beam and component effectively about a pair of orthogonally related axes, each of which orthogonally intersects the beam's long axis, and following said establishing, and under computer control, spatially maneuvering and operating a robotic welder adjacent the beam and the beam-end component, and in relation to the mentioned, adjustment-established beam-end and beam-end-component spatial disposition, to create joining welds in the mentioned predetermined locations.