Patents by Inventor Christopher E. Bacalia

Christopher E. Bacalia has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9517895
    Abstract: A system for turning over a vehicle frame defining openings and having a longitudinal center axis includes first and second robots each having an end effector. Each end effector has a pair of oppositely-positioned locator pins, at least one of which is selectively moveable toward the other. A controller is used to control the positioning of the frame via the robots and end effector by executing method instructions to cause the robots to align the locator pins of the end effectors with the openings of the frame, and to insert the aligned locator pins into the openings toward the center axis from outside of the vehicle frame. The robots lift the frame from a first conveyor, with weight of the vehicle frame born by the locator pins during the lift. The robots also rotate the frame about the center axis and lower the vehicle frame onto a second conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Bacalia, John M. Lux, Andrew J. Buckland, Theodore R. Burton, Douglas M. Linn
  • Publication number: 20150118003
    Abstract: A system for turning over a vehicle frame defining openings and having a longitudinal center axis includes first and second robots each having an end effector. Each end effector has a pair of oppositely-positioned locator pins, at least one of which is selectively moveable toward the other. A controller is used to control the positioning of the frame via the robots and end effector by executing method instructions to cause the robots to align the locator pins of the end effectors with the openings of the frame, and to insert the aligned locator pins into the openings toward the center axis from outside of the vehicle frame. The robots lift the frame from a first conveyor, with weight of the vehicle frame born by the locator pins during the lift. The robots also rotate the frame about the center axis and lower the vehicle frame onto a second conveyor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Bacalia, John M. Lux, Andrew J. Buckland, Theodore R. Burton, Douglas M. Linn
  • Patent number: 8276744
    Abstract: A method and a tool are provided for adjusting a skillet conveyor drive having a motor-driven drive wheel mounted on an adjustable mounting mechanism including a threaded rod that is biased toward the skillet by a spring mechanism and wherein the compression of the spring is adjusted by rotating an adjusting nut. The method includes pulling on the threaded rod, measuring the force required for the pulling by reading a load cell indicator, using a look up table to correlate the measured force with a desired force, and then adjusting the nut to achieve the desire force. The tool can be removed and then moved to another skillet conveyor drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventor: Christopher E. Bacalia
  • Publication number: 20110031093
    Abstract: A method and a tool are provided for adjusting a skillet conveyor drive having a motor-driven drive wheel mounted on an adjustable mounting mechanism including a threaded rod that is biased toward the skillet by a spring mechanism and wherein the compression of the spring is adjusted by rotating an adjusting nut. The method includes pulling on the threaded rod, measuring the force required for the pulling by reading a load cell indicator, using a look up table to correlate the measured force with a desired force, and then adjusting the nut to achieve the desire force. The tool can be removed and then moved to another skillet conveyor drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2009
    Publication date: February 10, 2011
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventor: Christopher E. Bacalia