Machine for the automatic fitting of piston rings onto pistons

Claim 1

A machine for automatically fitting piston rings onto pistons, the rings comprising two rails stepped, on a radially inward side, by a spacer interposed between the rings, the machine comprising a hollow magazine tube for the insertion of the spacers into piston grooves, the hollow magazine-tube having a widened bore and an outside portion with a bevel at one end, the bore comprising a seating for a piston for situating said piston grooves near the bevel, the machine further comprising an axially movable pusher for automatically threading a stack of the spacers onto the tube and wherein there is further provided, on a side of the stack opposite the pusher and near the bevel, an axially movable stop adapted to successively occupy two axially offset positions, a first of the positions comprising the stack of spacers between the stop and the pusher, a last of the spacers in the stack bearing radially against the bevel, and a second of the positions comprising a separation between the stop and the last spacer whereby the last spacer is able to slide onto the bevel and to enter one of the piston grooves by radial tightening.