Kenneth Wayne Kelly

US Patent:

20210286336, Sep 16, 2021

Filed:

May 28, 2021

Appl. No.:

17/334476

Inventors:

- Renton WA, US
Justin Somers Stamen - Seattle WA, US
Brian Lee Miller - Stanwood WA, US
Steven Heath Mason - Monroe WA, US
Kenneth O'Neil Kelly - Graham WA, US

International Classification:

G05B 19/402
B23Q 1/03

Abstract:

The low profile of the flexible tooling system disclosed allows for flexible tooling to be added to nearly all CNC machines with an accommodating z-axis height and allows easier relocation of the system from one CNC machine to another. The system includes one or more pods, each of the pods of the system replacing the function of four independent actuators of earlier systems but operating with a shared mechanical frame. Arranging the mechanism into groups of four allows for greater density of part support spacing, minimizes cable requirements, and allows for air, vacuum, and vacuum sensor requirements be localized on each pod. The pods allow for part supports to be spaced as close as ″ in the x and y axis. An increased variable position assembly density allows for greater flexibility to hold complicated parts.

US Patent:

20200379429, Dec 3, 2020

Filed:

May 4, 2020

Appl. No.:

16/866374

Inventors:

- Renton WA, US
Justin Somers Stamen - Seattle WA, US
Brian Lee Miller - Stanwood WA, US
Steven Heath Mason - Monroe WA, US
Kenneth O'Neil Kelly - Graham WA, US

International Classification:

G05B 19/402

Abstract:

The low profile of the flexible tooling system disclosed allows for flexible tooling to be added to nearly all CNC machines with an accommodating z-axis height and allows easier relocation of the system from one CNC machine to another. The system includes one or more pods, each of the pods of the system replacing the function of four independent actuators of earlier systems but operating with a shared mechanical frame. Arranging the mechanism into groups of four allows for greater density of part support spacing, minimizes cable requirements, and allows for air, vacuum, and vacuum sensor requirements be localized on each pod. The pods allow for part supports to be spaced as close as 6″ in the x and y axis. An increased variable position assembly density allows for greater flexibility to hold complicated parts.