Abstract: Automated parts assembly station includes positioning member (11) having surfaces (15a, 16a) defining a desired mutual position of the parts to be assembled and assembly member (13) connecting the parts. At at least some of the surfaces (15a, 16a) there are measurement members (18) for measuring a distance between the at least some surfaces and facing surfaces of the parts being assembled.

Abstract: A rocking station includes a frame in which there is a powered rocking board onto which are fed objects to be rocked. The board is supported on the floor supports arranged near its two opposite ends with the supports defining two parallel rotation axes of the board with each one near one of the opposite ends and transversal to the board. On each side of the board there is a chain defining two main lifting branches with each main branch being arranged between one part of the frame above the board and couplings to the board being arranged near one of the opposite ends of the board. A motor causes the chains to run on command in one or the other direction to alternately place one main branch or the other under tension and lift the corresponding board end by rotating the board around the rotation axis near the opposite end.

Abstract: A transporting installation (10, 110) comprises at least one conveyor belt (11, 111) on which are mounted at intervals carriages (12, 112) each equipped above with a horizontal roller (13, 113) for support of transport members (14) and side guide wheels (19, 119) running inside parallel opposing and facing C rails (20, 120). For support of roller and wheels the carriage has a U bracket (15, 115) fastened on the belt and with seats opening upward on the U arms for support of a support pin in a zone at the sides of the roller. The ends of the pin project on the two sides of the bracket (15, 115) to each support one of said guide wheels with there being between the wheels and the bracket spacers (22, 122) removable transversally to the pin to free a space for axial running of the guide wheels towards the center of the carriage. In this manner the wheels can be shifted in the direction of withdrawing them from the C guide rails upon removal of the spacers.

Abstract: A skid handling system includes at least two skid conveyance lines for skid handling with a transfer arranged between them to pass skids from one to the other. The transfer includes a skid conveyor with a clearance table at each end at the transfer point from and to the two conveyance lines. The skids are accumulated directly on the conveyor between the tables.

Abstract: Automated parts assembly station comprising positioning means (11) having surfaces (15a, 16a) defining the desired mutual position of the parts to be assembled and assembly means (13) connecting the parts. At at least some of said surfaces (15a, 16a) there are measurement means (18) for the distance between said at least some surfaces and facing surfaces of the parts being assembled.

Abstract: An automated parts assembly station includes positioning means (11) having surfaces (15a, 16a) for defining a desired mutual position of the parts to be assembled and assembly means (13) connecting the parts. At some of the surfaces (15a, 16a) there are measurement means (18) for measuring a distance between the surfaces and facing surfaces of the parts being assembled. A method is provided for the timely detection of the assembly tolerances. The method includes the steps of performing with the positioning means a permanent positioning of the parts being assembled, operation of the assembly means for connecting the parts, and releasing of the positioning means. Additionally, there is a measurement of the distance between the assembled parts and some of the surfaces. This measurement includes a comparison of the measured distances with maximum admissible distances.

Abstract: A welding electrode dressing device in particular in automated welding stations comprises an electrode treatment head (11, 111) equipped with upsetting members (15, 115) which reshape the tip of an electrode inserted in it without removing material. Advantageously the treatment head (11, 111) comprises two treatment seats (19, 119) arranged on opposite sides thereof to each receive the end (12) of a pair of welding gun electrodes.

Abstract: A body assembly system with work stations and a body handling device between work stations includes reference members mounted in an adaptable manner and handling device for supporting the body on the handling device during movement between work stations. The system also includes grasping devices mounted in the work stations for grasping the reference members and positioning them accurately while disengaging them temporarily from the handling device in such a manner as to position the body supported on the reference members accurately in the station space. The reference members are advantageously provided in the form of vertical pins ending below in a ball graspable by the grasping devices to raise the pins from resting on the handling device.

Abstract: A device for conveyance along an assembly line of components and motor vehicle components in particular mounted on sled-like supports (27) having a pair of supporting shoes (28). The device comprises a pair of powered belts (18) parallel and extending in the direction of conveyance to receive on themselves the sled supporting shoes (28) for advancement thereof along the line. Each belt (18) of the pair is wound between a drive pinion (15) and an idling pinion (17) arranged at the two ends of the device and bears on its internal face in contact with the pinions (15,17) grooves (20) which in movement engage with corresponding projections (23) born by the pinions. The belt (18) is supported in the section between the respective two pinions (15,17) by idling rollers (22) having an external profile virtually matching the belt profile on said internal face.

Abstract: A cellular depot including a plurality of cells facing onto a corridor through which runs at least one motor-driven car to convey loads between the cells. The car includes a trolley which is motor-driven to move between the car and the inside of a cell and transfer a load stored or to be stored to and from the car and cell. The trolley includes a hydraulic drive connected, for their power supply, to an independent source of fluid under pressure, which is automatically recharged when the trolley is accommodated on the car.

Abstract: An integrated container depot (10) comprises a first transit sector (11) with a cellular structure (13) having cells superimposed and adjacent to one another to form columns and rows of cells designed to receive containers; a second storage sector (12) consisting of a storage yard structure with areas for stacking containers; first devices (14, 18) for transferring containers to and from a container arrival and departure area (19) and cells of the cellular structure (13); second devices (15, 16, 17) for transferring containers to and from cells of the cellular structure (13) and areas of the storage yard structure, (12). Upon arrival of containers they are rapidly inserted into the cellular structure, from where they are extracted in a desired order for efficient stacking in the storage yard structure.

Abstract: A supporting device (10) for overhead runways comprises a fastening and adjusting coupling for connecting a bracket (12) (the lower end of which is secured to the rail (13)) to an upper suspension beam (11). The coupling comprises a first (20) and a second (23) element for connecting the beam to the bracket, the first element defining a circumferential rim (19), two parallel plates (14, 15) being interconnected by bolts (16, 17, 18) which reciprocally close together to grip the circumferential rim between the plates thereby enabling the reciprocal rotation of the element and plates around a vertical axis. The plates (14, 15) are adjustably connected to the second element to allow adjustment of the reciprocal gap between the first and second elements.

Abstract: A conveyor system for moving loads, comprises including an overhead rail (11, 211) along which run motor-driven carriages (10), each carriage having a motor-driven wheel (13, 113, 213, 313, 413, 513) resting on the upper part of the rail and a frame (12, 15) ending on the lower part of the rail with a device (16) for supporting a load. The wheel (13, 113, 213, 313, 413, 513) has a rolling surface (22, 122, 222, 330) which rolls over a corresponding rolling surface (25, 129, 225) on the rail and also a gripping surface (23, 123, 223, 330) which grips a corresponding gripping surface (24, 128, 224, 324, 424, 524) of the rail. One of the gripping surfaces (23, 123, 223, 330 or 24, 128, 224, 324, 424, 524) has rigid gripping teeth (23, 123, 224, 330, 430, 530), while the other of the gripping surfaces (24, 128, 224, 324, 424, 524 or 23, 123, 223, 330) is made of elastically pliable material in order to receive an imprint of the teeth.

Abstract: A conveyor system (10) with an overhead rail (11) has trolleys (12) with an upper drive wheel (13) and lower bucking rollers (15,16) of which at least one is fitted with a spring (17) to provide the necessary traction between drive wheel (13) and rail (11) along sloping paths. The rail (11) has a first unvarying thickness in its horizontal sections (20) and a second thickness, greater than the first, in its sloping sections (21), while the radiused sections (22,23) between horizontal sections (20) and sloping sections (21) have a variable thickness sized to hold substantially constant the compression of the spring (17) along the entire radiused sections (22,23) and in particular, at a value substantially equal to that provided by the spring along the sloping sections (21).

Abstract: A conveyor system (10) with a suspended rail (11) on which run trolleys (12) having an upper drive wheel (13) and lower bucking rollers (15,16). The wheel and the rollers are rigidly fixed relative to one another. Each trolley (12) has a geometry such as to cause a rotation moment around the upper wheel (13) when the trolley traverses sloped sections of rail to increase the force of contact or traction of the driving wheel (13) on the rail. The rail (11) has a cross section of variable thickness along its length so that the distance between the wheel and the rollers is uniform on the curves between straight horizontal and sloping sections.

Abstract: An assembly (10) for supporting suspended elements (14), such as the tracks of a monorail system for the suspended movement of powered trolleys. The assembly includes a supporting hanger (11) connected at one end to a supporting beam (12) and having at the other end a plate (13) that is received between the flanges of a piece of track. The tracks are pulled tight against the plates of the hangers by a pair of elastic members (17, 18) that are secured to the hanger by a nut and bolt arrangement (24) and are leveraged against the inside of grooves (16, 23) in the flanges of the tracks to secure them elastically to the hangers.

Abstract: A storage rack having shelving consisting of a plurality of risers connected by horizontal stringers to individualize an ordered plurality of compartments open at the front and arranged in rows and columns for receiving load units deposited and taken therefrom by extractable forks on a handling device moving along the shelving and positioning itself opposite the individual compartments. In each compartment there are placed at intervals on the side walls pluralities of brackets facing each other in pairs, the brackets being rotatable on pivots by an operating device, e.g. included in the handling device or in the structure of the shelving, between a raised or rest position and a lowered or support position for the load units inserted in the compartments. In this manner it is possible to adjust the distance between the supports for the load units to the height of the latter, thus optimizing space utilization of the rack.

Abstract: A device for working on sheet metal structures, for example the bodies of motor vehicles, to which the structures are fed in succession through a work station. The device has a pair of opposed movable units on either side of the feed path carrying, positioning, clamping and/or welding tools disposed in sets. Each set comprises at least two tools each of which is movable individually between a retracted non-operative position and an operative position so that at any one time, one tool of each set is capable of doing work on a body disposed between the pair of opposed units.

Abstract: A plant for welding automotive vehicle bodies that are conveyed in succession in an assembly line to a single processing station having equipment for positioning, holding and welding different types of automotive bodies, a pair of opposed stationary frames pivotally supporting elongate members, which in turn rotatably support tool supporting units, each of which carries a plurality of tool assemblies. The elongate members pivot normal to the assembly line path to place the tool supporting units in and out of operating position; and the tool assemblies are revolvable about the rotatable tool supporting units to select one of the tool assemblies for a particular vehicle body type.

Abstract: In a system for the automated storage of refrigerated containers, of the type in which the containers are handled automatically within a cellular store, each cell and each container are provided with respective automatic quick plug-in means for connecting the container to at least one energy source. Preferably, for connection to a source of electrical energy, said automatic quick plug-in means can consist of a stationary contact provided on the rear wall of the container and a mobile contact provided on a support means on the cell; between said fixed and mobile contacts there also being provided means arranged to align the mobile contact with the fixed contact on positioning the container in the respective cell.