Reconfigurable fixture device and methods of use

US8510924B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC · US

Inventors

• Nilesh D. Mankame · Ann Arbor, US
• James W. Wells · Rochester Hills, US
• Christopher P. Henry · Thousand Oaks, US
• Ivan G. Sears · Rochester Hills, US
• Douglas Martin Linn · Cave Springs, US
• Alan L. Browne · Grosse Pointe, US
• Richard J. Skurkis · Lake Orion, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 11, 2011
• Grant date: Aug 20, 2013
• Expiry date: Feb 9, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T29/53991
• WIPO field: Machine tools
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A reconfigurable fixture device system, including: a base member; a reconfigurable pad disposed on the base member, wherein the reconfigurable pad comprises a shape memory material configured to selectively conform to a surface contour of a workpiece; an activation device in operative communication with the shape memory material; a controller in operable communication with at least one of the reconfigurable pad, the activation device, and the base member; a plurality of sensors for sensing a parameter associated with at least one of the reconfigurable pad, the base member, the fixture device, and the workpiece, wherein the plurality of sensors is in operable communication with the controller; and an actuator in operable communication with the controller and the at least one of the reconfigurable pad, the base member, the fixture device, and the workpiece.