Electro-pneumatic assembly device

Claim 1

An electro-pneumatic assembly device including a rack for receiving mounting boards, a removable mounting board for supporting components inserted in said rack and having a set of electric edge connectors along an edge thereof, an elongated pneumatic manifold split lengthwise into a stationary and a removable fragment, the stationary fragment being affixed to said rack and the removable fragment being affixed to said board, said stationary fragment having a source port for receiving air from a source affixed to said rack and a plurality of requirement ports for delivering controlled air requirements to points on said rack, said stationary and removable fragments having opposed mating interfaces extending along their long dimensions, said stationary fragment having in its mating interface a plurality of requirement orifices each communicating with a corresponding said requirement port of said stationary fragment, and a source orifice communicating with said source port, said removable fragment having orifices in its mating interface corresponding to and opposing the orifices in the mating interface of the stationary fragment, said removable fragment having a delivery channel communicating with said orifice in the removable fragment opposing the source orifice of the stationary fragment, said removable fragment having a plurality of control device ports communicating with said delivery channel and providing means for attachment of and the delivery of source air to a control device, said removable fragment having a receiving port associated with each said device port for receiving controlled air from a control device and communicating with an associated orifice in the mating interface of said removable fragment, said assembly device including a seal associated with each pair of opposed orifices effective in completing a channel for passage of air from one opposed orifice to its opposed counterpart.