Appeal No. 1998-0253
Application No. 08/261,252
Masamiti Kogai et al. originally took this appeal from
the final rejection of claims 1 and 3 through 12, but have
since canceled claims 1, 3, 7 and 10. Thus, the appeal now
involves claims 4 through 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12, the only claims
presently pending in the application.1
The invention relates to “a method for the assembly of
automotive vehicles” (specification, page 1). Claim 4 is
illustrative and reads as follows:
4. A method for the assembly of a work in a vehicle
body assembly line having at least one of a conveyor and a
carriage loaded on a guide rail disposed along the vehicle
body assembly line, comprising:
mounting the work so as to be supported by a work-
supporting means and then aligned by a work-aligning means on
said at least one conveyor and carriage;
loading said at least one conveyor and carriage with a
plurality of parts;
loading said at least one conveyor and carriage with a
plurality of tools;
assembling a part to the work with a part-assembly robot
disposed on said at least one conveyor and carriage during a
period of time during which the said at least one conveyor and
carriage moves and the work is mounted to the said at least
one conveyor and carriage, wherein the part is clamped with
the part-assembly robot from a pallet disposed on at least one
of a conveyor and carriage;
changing the tools of the part-assembly robot in
accordance with the parts to be mounted to the work; and
1Each of the claims remaining on appeal has been amended
subsequent to final rejection.
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