Abstract: The effects of an air bearing may be augmented in various ways in order to assist in the automated assembly of valve spools into valve bores. Such augmentation may be achieved by agitating one end of the valve spool with sequentially applied pulses of pressurized air as the spool is being lowered into the valve body, increasing the effective length of the valve spool so that the agitation can be applied to the spool when the spool is partially inserted into the body, varying the position of the valve spool while the spool is being inserted into the valve body to expose a length of the spool to the pulses of pressurized air, and applying an oscillating vibration to the fixture that supports the valve body to dislodge a spool that has become jammed in the valve bore.
Type:
Application
Filed:
October 24, 2008
Publication date:
March 12, 2009
Applicant:
Lamb Assembly and Test, LLC
Inventors:
Orrin Pierce Beggs, Lane Matthew Johnson, Jeffery Wayne Berg
Abstract: The effects of an air bearing may be augmented in various ways in order to assist in the automated assembly of valve spools into valve bores. Such augmentation may be achieved by agitating one end of the valve spool with sequentially applied pulses of pressurized air as the spool is being lowered into the valve body, increasing the effective length of the valve spool so that the agitation can be applied to the spool when the spool is partially inserted into the body, varying the position of the valve spool while the spool is being inserted into the valve body to expose a length of the spool to the pulses of pressurized air, and applying an oscillating vibration to the fixture that supports the valve body to dislodge a spool that has become jammed in the valve bore.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
July 6, 2005
Date of Patent:
December 2, 2008
Assignee:
Lamb Assembly and Test, LLC
Inventors:
Orrin Pierce Beggs, Lane Matthew Johnson, Jeffery Wayne Berg