Universal holding system for a contoured workpiece

摘要

A universal system for supporting and holding a workpiece having a contoured work holding surface is provided with a spaced array of work holding fixtures mounted on a base. Each fixture includes a work engaging head having a vacuum cup and three work engaging projections spaced outwardly from the vacuum cup and disposed in a work contact plane. The work engaging head is supported by a ball joint on a rod mounted for axial movement relative to a base and the ball joint supports the work engaging head for tilting movement about axes orthogonal to each other and to the axis of the rod. The ball joint includes a ball and casing and a ball clamp in the casing with ball clamp operating means for selectively moving the ball clamp means into a ball clamped condition to a ball released condition. A rod clamp means is provided for selectively locking the rod in a rod clamp adjusted position.