GEOMETRIC REASONING FOR LAYOUT DESIGN OF MACHINING FIXTURES

Fixture design has three design stages: conceptual, layout, and detail design. Geometric reasoning is one of the major tasks involved in layout design. This paper presents a geometric reasoning model for automated fixture layout. Desirable characteristics of layout design methodologies are first discussed. Computation models for cutting force effects, locator layout, clamp layout, and clamping forces are then presented in sequence. Finally, current implementation of a software system and results are described. The system imports geometric data of parts directly from a CAD system, reasons with geometric, tolerance and operation data, and automatically generates layout designs from the fixture component database provided.