Development of Automated Dedicated Fixture Configuration Design Systems with Predefined Fixture Component Types: Part 1, Basic Design

An automated modular fixture design system has been developed in our previous study. Since dedicated fixtures are commonly used in mass production, in this research, a technique of automated dedicated fixture configuration design is studied with predefined fixture component types. The design methodology is divided into two stages: basic design and detail design. The basic design activities include 1) selection of functional fixture components such as locators and clamps from a standard fixture component database, 2) generation of customized supports with variable dimensions for different fixture design requirements, and 3) assembly of fixture components into a final configuration on a fixture base. In order to implement the fixture design procedure, models are developed to represent the standard fixture components and customized supports. The assembly relationships among fixture components are established based on a compatibility analysis. The detail design includes fixture unit combination, connection design, interference avoidance modification, and technological-rule-based modification. In this paper, the principles and implementation of basic design are presented, while the detail design will be addressed in a separate paper.