AUTOMATIC GUIDED VEHICLE FIXTURE LOCATOR.

The fixture locator is a multipurpose device used for accurately locating the Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) arbors and verifying the position of the AGV. This device, more commonly known as an 'AGV Docking Station', has as its primary purpose the ability to locate accurately the arbors of the floating fixture which rides on top of the AGV. The arbors, which carry stacks of 23 full or empty reels of tape, must be accurately located so the various robotic mechanisms can properly align and the stack of reels can be properly transferred from the AGV arbors to the mating arbors on the robotic mechanisms. This device is used at the slitter, the tape buffer carousel and the hub strip operation. The robotic loader unloads full reels from the docking station and loads them on the AGV arbors. It also unloads empty hubs from the AGV and loads them onto the docking station. The AGV arbors are located by the AGV fixture locator while reels are being transferred.