Abstract: A thread cutting work station includes a carriage assembly mounted on guideways for guided movement under the control of a linear actuator between an initial, home position and a forward position for cutting threads in or upon a workpiece. A collet is connected to a drive motor and carries a tap for thread cutting. In operation, the linear actuator accelerates the carriage assembly from the initial, home position along the guideways towards the workpiece with the rotating tap entering the to-be-threaded bore to initiate the thread cutting operation with the subsequent feed rate controlled by the rotating tap. After completion of the thread cutting step, the drive motor is reversed to withdraw the tap from the threaded bore, and the linear actuator is controlled to rapidly move the carriage assembly to its initial position.

Abstract: A machine component installer for installing bearings, pins, bushings, and the like into a machine casting or similar component includes a reloadable carousel for accepting plural component stacks, a pivotally mounted claw-arm for grasping a bearing presented by the carousel and for swinging the grasped bearing into a pre-installation position, and a press for determining that all components are properly positioned and for pressing the bearing into a bore. The carousel includes a rotatably mounted turntable with guides for accepting plural stacks of bearings. The bearings drop, on a one-by-one basis, through an opening in the turntable plate to a presentation position. The claw-arm includes opposed spring biased fingers for grasping each bearing presented by the carousel and for swinging the bearing into position above a ram. The claw-arm is designed to self-tighten about the grasped bearing as the arm is rotated to present the bearing to the ram.

Abstract: A support for sensing the proper positioning of a workpiece and holding the workpiece for a machining operation in response to the proper positioning includes elements for sensing the position of the workpiece at a plurality of locations on the workpiece and a power drive mechanism for operating a clamp to secure the workpiece in the proper position. The sensing elements are connected in series to a power source and are actuated by engagement with predetermined locations on the workpiece when the workpiece is in the proper position. The clamp includes clamp arms which swing laterally away from seats for the workpiece as the clamp arms are moved forward to release one workpiece and accept another.