毕业论文外文翻译-柔性体装配件工作站.doc

ABSTRACT A workstation and method for processing a plurality of workpieces includes at least one material handling robot movable along a processing path for supporting a workpiece to be moved along the processing path. At least one station can be defined by at least one processing position adjacent the processing path for receiving workpieces to be processed when delivered and positioned by the at least one material handling robot. Interchangeable end effecters can be con-nected to the material handling robot for holding and sup-porting different configurations of workpieces. The material handling robot can disengage from the end effecter at the processing position, to allow engagement with a processing tool for performing additional processing operations on the workpiece. A flexible body workstation for assembling workpieces can use multiple robots and/or multiple fixtures for processing different workpiece configurations in any sequential order along two processing paths. RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims the benefit of pro-visional application Ser. No. 60/548,129 filed on Feb. 26, 2004 and Ser. No. 60/618,422 filed on Oct. 13, 2004. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a flexible body workstation for assembling workpieces using multiple robots and multiple fixtures, and more specifically, the present invention provides welding workstations for auto-motive assembly lines having multiple independently work-ing welding robots and multiple fixtures for holding work-pieces. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The efficiency of a welding workstation can be defined by the amount of time, normally a percentage, that a welding robot spends welding compared to the total time required for a particular repetitive cycle. The efficiency of the workstation relates to the amount of time that a welding robot takes to perform various welding operations compared to the total amount of time th